First Encounters
by RandomFanfictionGurlz
Summary: Fan fiction about Valduggery, including humor, fights, and all that luvvy duvvy stuff ( not too much, though o; ) :)! EVERYONE LUFFS SKULMAN. And when romance is involved, it just gets a whole lot better :D We try our best to follow the story line, and we add scenes in between the gamefaced-case-solving, where they just sit back and argue. ((((((POSTPONED))))))
1. First Enounters (C1)

**Chapter One – First Encounters**

**DISCLAIMER~~ We do not own anything from the Skulduggery Pleasant series! Derek Landy is the rightful and amazing owner of the awesomeness that is Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and all the other characters!**

**Hey nuggets. This is our first fanfic, and this one's been done by moi, Jess! Shan will be doing the next one. This is set after Gordon's will hearing (or whatever), with a new meeting of Val and Skul.**

**ooOoo**

Stephanie leaned against the desk in her uncle's study. She had been reading through his notes when she had a feeling that someone was watching her. She turned for the window and looked out.

In the pathway stood a tall, thin figure with a hat covering straw-like hair. The figure was wearing sunglasses, a thick scarf and a long, brownish coat. She felt slightly unnerved, but she'd seen him before.

She left the study and made her way through the groups of people and out to the pathway. She stood in front of the figure.

"You must be Stephanie Edgley," the figure had a smooth voice, clearly male.

The male figure stepped closer to Stephanie and grabbed her, lifting her up so that they are face to face. She now had a better look at the man. Through the shades of his large sunglasses, she could make out the empty eye sockets. Her eyes widen with fear and she stammered, "H-how do you know my name? Who are y-you?!"

The man laughed, and said in a low tone, "Me, my dear.. I am your worst nightmare."

Stephanie's eyes grew impossibly wider and she opened her mouth to cry for help.

"MU-"

The man swiftly placed a hand over her mouth and tilted his head to the side slightly.

"Shut up, I was kidding."

Stephanie frowned and bit his gloved finger. Instead of biting down on soft skin, her teeth hit something hard.

The man pulled his hand away, shaking it as if it had hurt.

"Mind where you put your teeth!" he said.

Stephanie backed away and pointed at him. "You're a skelly."

The man sighed and lowered his head. "Here we go again.. Yes, I am, as you say, a skeleton. I have been for a few years now. My name is Skulduggery Pleasant and I need you to come with me before you scream again, or, possibly, faint."

He held out a thin hand towards her.

Stephanie stared at it for a moment, then looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Mr Pleasant, are you seriously asking me to move from the safety of people and walk away with a complete stranger, who happens to be a skeleton?"

"..Yes."

"Well, okay then."

Stephanie ignored the hand and walked past him. Skulduggery shrugged and walked after her. He led the way round to the back of the house and towards a black Bentley.

"Nice car," Stephanie commented. _For a skeleton, _she added mentally.

"Of course. This is a Bentley. One of the very few originals made."

Stephanie stopped walking and turned to face Skulduggery.

"What's going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean what do I mean? You're a talking skeleton. Why are you here?"

Skulduggery tilted his head again and stared at her. Or, assuming he was staring at her. It was hard to tell.

"There's someone after you and I can't let them have what they want."

Stephanie raised an eyebrow. "And what is it that I have that they want?"

"I don't know."

"So.. You don't know what they want, yet you're sure they want something from me?"

"Yes."

"Right.. So, where are you taking me?"

Skulduggery opened the passenger door to the Bentley and looked at her. "Somewhere safe."

"If I'm going somewhere with a strange skeleton, I'm getting my phone first."

"Why would you need your phone?"

"In case you're an insane murderer. I'll be back in a minute." Stephanie turned and walked away, back to the house.

Skulduggery shook his head and watched her go, clearly confused by the girl.

As she approached the front of the house, a hand tapped her on the shoulder.

"I can go by myself, you know," she said, turning around.

A man with dark, messy hair was standing behind her with a creepy smile on his face.

Stephanie raised an eyebrow, turned back around and kept walking. Suddenly, the man's arm was around her neck and was pulling her back wards. Stephanie struggled and tried to break free of the man's hold, but only irritated him.

"Will you stop struggling? Just give me the key and I'll let you go!" the man hissed in her ear.

"I don't know what the key is!" Stephanie gasped as the hold tightened around her neck.

"Don't play stupid with me, missy. I know you have it."

Stephanie kicked backwards and hit his shin, making the man yell and let go.

Just then, Skulduggery came running in to view and sent a punch for the man's face.

The man stumbled backwards, holding his nose. "What the heck!"

Skulduggery clicked his fingers and a flame appeared in his hand. Stephanie gasped and stared in amazement at the flame. Developing the flame in to a ball, he threw it at the man, catching fire to his shirt.

Flailing madly, the burning man shredded his shirt off and threw it to the ground. He was covered in raw burns, and he was breathing heavily, glaring at the two.

"That was.. Amazing! Oh my god! You set him on fire!" Stephanie was staring, amazed, at Skulduggery. Skulduggery straightened his tie and nodded, somewhat smugly.

"This isn't over, Skeleton Detective!" the burnt man screeched and ran away down the road.

Stephanie glared after the man, then turned to Skulduggery. "I was just saved by a fire throwing skeleton.." she said, feeling dizzy.

"Are you going to faint?"

"I think so. Will you catch me?"

"Of course."

Stephanie smiled faintly, and the last thing she saw before she blanked out was Skulduggery lunging forwards to catch her.

**ooOoo**

**I know, some of the lines are from the actual Skulduggery books, but hey, makes it better, yeah?**

**I'm sorry if it's rubbish, but please review! And ideas are welcome for future chapters!**

**Again, I do not own anything to do with Skulduggery. All respect goes to Derek Landy.**

**Ciao, fellow nuggets!**


	2. The Bad Man Returns (C2)

**Chapter 2 – The Bad Man Returns**

**DISCLAIMER ~~ We do not own anything from the Skulduggery Pleasant series! Derek Landy is the rightful and amazing owner of the awesomeness that is Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and all the other characters!**

**Okay, so we've decided to have two serious chapters, and then get more in to the Valduggery part of it all in the next two, just so we get our bearings!**

**This chapter is written by Shaneequa! It's set a month after the last one.**

**ooOoo**

Skulduggery parked the Bently behind a red motor bike. They got out of the car and walked towards a pretty run-down house. Skulduggery opens the door for Stephanie. As she walked through in to the house, she saw two tall figures, just standing in a dark corner. _Creeeeeepy.. _Stephanie thought. They were in what seemed like the only room in the house. The two tall figures turned towards her and stepped in to the light and smiled a little weirdly at them.

Stephanie backed away slowly, bumping in to Skulduggery, who was standing behind her.

Staring down at her, he asked, "What is the matter, Stephanie?"

"U-uh.. There are two.. creeps in your living room.." she replied.

One of the strangers, a toned man with scars all over his face let out a chuckle.

"Hey Skul," He said, "We finally get to meet your partner, huh?"

"Yes," Skulduggery replied. "Stephanie, this is Ghastly and Tanith. Ghastly, Tanith, this is Stephanie. My partner."

Stephanie stared up at the scarred man's face with fear, and hid behind Skulduggery.

If Skulduggery had lips, he would be smiling.

"Don't worry. They don't bite. Much."

The other stranger, a muscled woman named Tanith, stepped forward and smiled kindly at Stephanie.

"Hey, kiddo."

Skulduggery pushed Stephanie gently forward from behind him and towards Tanith.

Tanith leant down and ruffled her hair, making Stephanie scowl.

"Have you chosen a new name yet?"

Stephanie looked at her, confusement filling her expression. Skulduggery placed a hand on her shoulder and explained that people in the magic world had to choose a new name to protect their given name from being used against them.

Stephanie nodded slowly, "Okay then, I like the sound of Ilvenna Nova. I'll be called that!"

"No," Ghastly said, kindly. "That's not quite how it wo-"

Stephanie's phone rang and she smiled sheepishly at them all as she answered.

"Hello?"

A deep, musky voice spoke to her from the other side of the line, "Stephanie Edgley.. You will walk outside to the Bentley, and you will not say a word."

Stephanie froze, instantly being controlled by her own name. Why hadn't Ilvenna Nova work? She chose that, right?

Ghastly and Tanith looked at her with concern. Skulduggery probably was too, but it's hard to tell.

Stephanie slowly turned and walked robotically towards the door. Once outside and next to the Bentley, she saw a man wearing black, with half-healed burns running down his arms and all around his face.

"Hello, Stephanie. We meet again."

Stephanie glared at the man, unable to do anything else.

She glimpsed Ghastly and Tanith at the window in Skulduggery's house, and Skulduggery himself marching towards them. The man hadn't seemed to notice that yet, though.

He stepped closer to her. "Stephanie Edgley, you will give me the key-"

Skulduggery sent a kick towards the man's face, cutting him off. But this time, he was prepared. He grabbed Skul's foot and attempted to twist it.

Skulduggery used his other leg to propel himself towards him, his elbow making contact with the man's neck.

The man released him and staggered backwards, gagging.

As Skulduggery continued to beat him up, Stephanie thought desperately of a name that matches her personality. All she was good at was causing trouble, and making others suffer to help her.

All she was good at was raising Cain.

She stuck out her foot and tripped the man as he ran at her.

He stared up at her in disbelief. "But I told you to stand there!"

"You told -Stephanie- to stand there. I'm not her."

As Skulduggery hand cuffed the man, he asked her, "So you've chosen a new name?"

"Yes."

The man was forced to stand. "Will you tell me what it is?" he asked.

"I am Valkyrie Cain. And you, sir, are under arrest."

**ooOoo**

**Guys, that's it for now.. Jess will do the next chapter.. And we of course will help each other.. But she will do most of it! Didn't she already do a great job with the last one? We will upload asap!**

**(Please review!)**


	3. A New Set of Clothes! (C3)

**Chapter 3 – A New Set of Clothes**

**DISCLAIMER~~ We do not own anything from the Skulduggery Pleasant series! Derek Landy is the rightful and amazing owner of the awesomeness that is Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and all the other characters!**

**So, this chapter's done by Jess! We're going to continue from the last chapter but it will be from Valkyrie's point of view- no serious Valduggery yet!**

**ooOoo**

**General POV**

Ghastly took a right turn, and Valkyrie was thrown off her seat.

"Ouch!" she yelped, holding her head. "Watch how you're driving!"

Skulduggery looked back to see if she was okay. "You alright back there?"

In the back of Ghastly's van, Tanith was sitting upright on the seats, whilst Valkyrie was sprawled on the floor. Ghastly and Skulduggery were in the front.

"How can you stay upright on such a bumpy road!" Valkyrie exclaimed, looking up at Tanith.

"Well," Tanith said, "It takes major skills to be me."

Valkyrie scowled at Tanith and resumed her seat.

A few minutes later, Valkyrie had stopped being thrown about and they arrived at Ghastly's Tailor.

"Oh my god- this town couldn't be creepier. Why the heck are we here?!" Valkyrie asked, staring at Ghastly.

"Ah," Ghastly said. "This is the perfect place for a secret tailor. I make amazing clothes, if I do say so myself!"

**Valkyrie's POV**

I watched Ghastly sit quietly at his sewing machine, concentration showing on his expression. The place was very elaborate- velvet carpet and fancy wall paper. A load of half-finished clothes hanging on coat pegs, scattered around the place.

I turned round to look at Skulduggery, who was sitting like.. a skelly, on a sofa.

He turned his head to look at me, and asked "What're you looking at?"

I blushed as he stared at me, and I answered, "I-I don't know, but it's looking back!"

From behind me, I could hear Tanith laughing a little too hysterically from the kitchen.

Skulduggery shook his head at me, "So I'm not even a skeleton now?"

My blush deepened and I turned away to watch Ghastly again.

During the hours of wait, I drifted off to sleep.

I'm later woken by a chuffed, and very loud exclamation, "I'm finished!"

I half opened an eye to see Ghastly holding out a set of fine-looking clothes, looking very happy with himself. I also noticed that Tanith was snoring in to my shoulder.

Skulduggery walked up to us and leant down. I felt a sharp pain on my shoulder and I yelped and jumped up, causing Tanith to fall from my shoulder and hit her head off the ground.

"What the hell..!" Tanith groaned, sitting up slowly as she rubbed her forehead.

Skulduggery looked at us and tilted his head to a side, in a way that makes me wonder what he's thinking. "Ghastly's finished the clothes," he told us.

I looked to Ghastly and saw the finished clothes. "They're amazing!" I said, rushing over to hold them.

They were pitch black, with blood red linings down the sleeves. The material was impenetrable, which meant I could get in to more trouble and be a little less dependent on Skulduggery.

I snatched it out of Ghastly's hands, and I ran towards the little changing room to put them on. They fitted like I had been wearing them for months. After admiring myself in the mirror for quite some time, I walked out and showed the others.

"Just as I thought," Ghastly said. "They fit perfectly!"

Tanith smiled at me and agreed with Ghastly. "You look amazing, Val."

I looked expectantly at Skulduggery, but he remained silent. I felt a little disappointed that he didn't comment, but I decided to shrug that off.

"Thank you so much, guys." I said, walking over to Ghastly and giving him a hug. Ghastly smiled at me and gently hugged me back.

"You are quite welcome, Val."

**General POV**

Later on during the day when it was getting dark, Valkyrie waited inside the Bentley for Skulduggery, who was going to take her home.

Eventually, Skulduggery left the tailor and began to drive her back to her house.

He parked at the pier, a bit from her house and they got out.

"Thanks for taking me home, Skul." Valkyrie said. She looked up at him and smiled before turning to leave.

"Wait," Skulduggery said, a hand on her arm. "Those clothes looked great on you."

Valkyrie turned and gave him a hug, and said, "Thank you."

Skulduggery patted her head and gently sent her away towards her house.

On her way to her room, Valkyrie smiled to herself. She was happy that Skulduggery had given her a compliment.

She changed for bed, hiding her new clothes made by Ghastly around the back of her wardrobe and then climbed in to bed.

She fell asleep, thinking of adventures to come.

**ooOoo**

**So that's that chapter 3! I hope you liked reading it.**

**Again, any ideas are welcome! Please review!**

**Shan will be doing the next chapter.**

**Ciao, fellow nuggets!**


	4. A Birthday Surprise (C4)

**Chapter 4 – A Birthday Surprise**

**DISCLAIMER~~ We do not own anything from the Skulduggery Pleasant series! Derek Landy is the rightful and amazing owner of the awesomeness that is Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and all the other characters!**

**This is 4th chapter already in a few days. Yay! I hope you guys like it so far! Ideas are welcome etc, etc. Have fun reading even more! - Shan**

**P.S POV means Point Of View.**

**ooOoo**

**Valkyrie's POV**

God I hate school. I made my way to the cafeteria, not really feeling that hungry. Why had they made me go to school today? Didn't they know what day it was?

Sighing, I took my seat at a table and looked about the hall. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a tall, muscular figure. With scars all over his face.

Taking a deep breath, I walked up to the figure calmly. When I was close enough, my suspicions were confirmed. What the hell was Ghastly doing at my school?!

"Ahem," she glared at him. "What are you doing here?!"

Ghastly smiled down at me, and was about to answer when I grabbed his arm and pulled him away.

"Not here. You're not exactly the most inconspicuous person to be wandering around the school."

Ghastly looked at me, "Ouch." he said, mockingly. "Listen, Skulduggery doesn't want you wandering around unprotected. We suspect that the man that controlled you has associates. They could attack at any time."

I glared at him again. Why did it have to be about evil guys, again?

Just then, the bell rang and I turned away angrily, back to class. "Just stay out of sight!" I called back.

I sat down at my desk, staring absent mindedly at my text book, not paying attention to what the teacher was saying. How could they forget about my birthday? Do they even know when my birthday is? At least Skulduggery should know, seeing as my parents had yelled "Happy Birthday!" to me on my way out.

**General POV**

"No, Skul! She's a young girl, she should have an exciting and girly partly! Liiike.. A pyjama party!" Tanith held out a list of party ideas to Skulduggery, pointing to some random part of it.

Skulduggery shook his head in disagreement. "I, for one, think that she would appreciate having a more formal party, to signify her growing up."

The continue to argue about the style of party for a few hours, when they finally decided on a split.

**Valkyrie's POV**

Out side the school, I stood, completely drenched by the rain, waiting for Skulduggery to show up.

_He isn't coming, is he? _I thought to myself.

Sighing, I picked up my bag and I began to make my way to my house. I didn't bother going to his, they have obviously forgotten about me. I hung my head in despair.

Some time later, I was still drenched, and still walking. If he really had forgotten about me, I was going to hit him. Hard. In the face.

Just as I was thinking that, I heard to soft and familiar hum of a car.

**General POV**

Skulduggery spotted Valkyrie, walking in the rain, completely soaked. She didn't look happy. She didn't look happy at all.

He stopped the car a few meters away from her, and got out of the car. He walked swiftly over to her and encased her in a skelly hug. "Valkyrie, I'm so sorry. I was busy and couldn't get there in time."

Valkyrie smiled and turned around, hugging him back. "It's fine. I forgive you. Now will you take me somewhere dry? I think I'm going to melt."

Skulduggery laughed and nodded, taking her back to the Bentley.

Back at Skulduggery's house, Ghastly and Tanith were running around like headless chickens, trying to get everything set up for the party, and ended up colliding with each other at some point and landing in an awkward pile, whilst Skulduggery drove to Valkyrie's house so that she can change and dry off.

Eventually, they arrived at Skulduggery's place. As they walked up to the door, Skulduggery placed a hand over Valkyrie's eyes. "It's a surprise," he said.

Grinning, Valkyrie felt around for the door handle and opened it. Skulduggery lifted his hand away from her eyes, and she gasped.

"Happy Birthday Valkyrie!" Ghastly and Tanith said in unison.

"Oh my god! I thought you guys had completely forgotten my birthday!" Valkyrie said, happily surprised.

Skulduggery took Valkyrie by the shoulders and turned her around. "How could we forget something so important?" he said softly, a smile showing in his voice. Valkyrie blushed as he hugged her gently.

"You're kind of cute when you blush." he said, patting her head slightly.

Ghastly and Tanith soon made it in to a group hug, and then the dancing started when Tanith took Valkyrie's hand and started dancing like a weirdo. It was amusing to watch.

Somehow, Skulduggery's plan of splitting the party style went down the drain, as Tanith and Valkyrie continued to dance in their own way. He managed to dance with her at some point, but that didn't last long as Tanith insisted that nothing boring was to happen.

Later on, close to one in the morning, Valkyrie fell asleep on Skulduggery's sofa. Ghastly went to make a bed for Valkyrie, as Skulduggery lifted her up and carried her to the spare room. Ghastly left and Skul placed her down on the bed.

He ran a hand across her forehead and tilted his head. "Sweet dreams, Valkyrie." he said on his way out.

Valkyrie smiled softly in her sleep.

**Guys, that's it for today..! I hope you liked it, and had fun reading. Tomorrow is another and maybe we'll both add another chapter each again.. But who knows!**

**Ideas are welcome, like I said before, so like.. Place a review or something! Always nice to know what you want to read next!**

**~ Shan**


	5. Turn of the Tables(C5)

**Chapter 5 – Turn of the Tables**

**DISCLAIMER~~ We do not own anything from the Skulduggery Pleasant series! Derek Landy is the rightful and amazing owner of the awesomeness that is Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and all the other characters!**

**Sorry about the previous chapter, by the time this is uploaded, it should have been fixed. I didn't know how or why it didn't upload properly! I'm sure you all don't want to read chapter 2 again!**

**Also, sorry about not uploading sooner!**

**Back to the action!**

**ooOoo**

_A few months later after Valkyrie's birthday.._

"Where about's is he most likely to be?" Valkyrie asked Skulduggery. They were standing in front of a map of Dublin. They'd circled the most likely hotels that this person would be. Tanith wandered in to the room with two cups of tea. She peered over Val's shoulder and at the map.

"He's a teleporter who can get what ever he wants. He's most likely in a hotel that has everything. Including games." she said, pointing to a very expensive hotel right in the middle of the map.

_A few hours later, they arrive outside the hotel.._

"Wow," Valkyrie said, gazing up at the tall hotel. It had so many levels. "So, he's staying here?"

Skulduggery shrugged and nodded at her. He made his way in to the hotel, and Valkyrie followed him.

The receptionist looked up at them as they came through, and her eyes widened slightly. Her hand reached for the phone.

"Y-your.. Your a sk-" she began, interrupted by Skulduggery's hand over her mouth.

"Shut up. We need to know where a boy named Fletcher Renn is staying." He told her.

The receptionist nodded shakily and motioned for him to take his hand away from her mouth. Once he had, she took her hand away from the phone and began typing at the computer.

"H-he's in room 0211. Floor 5." she stammered.

Skulduggery nodded and got out his phone and called the Sanctuary. "I need Geoffry Scrutinous out here. Main hotel in Dublin." after a moment, he put the phone away and they began to make their way to the lift.

Valkyrie pushed the button that said '5' on it, and they began to go up.

Eventually, they reached the top of the hotel, and they made their way to room 0211. But on their way to the room, they came across a tall, light haired man with a long, black over coat on. He couldn't look more suspicious if he tried, and he happened to be heading for the same room they were.

Skulduggery looked at the man, and the man looked at him. Skulduggery then looked at Valkyrie and nodded. She understood, and bolted for the door of room 0211. Knocking the door down, she propelled herself towards the person sitting in there, and pinned him to the floor.

Outside the room, she could hear Skulduggery fighting with the man. The person she was pinning glared up at her.

"Who the heck are you!" he asked. Valkyrie looked down at him.

"Shut up and stay quiet. We're here to protect you." she got up off of him and walked towards the knocked down door. The boy got up and walked after her. He caught a glimpse of Skulduggery, and nearly fell over in shock.

"He's a flippin' skeleton!" he exclaimed.

Valkyrie sighed and shoved him out of the way. "Just stay back and don't get in the way," she told him.

She clicked her fingers and summoned a flame in her hands. Developing the flame in to a ball, just like Skulduggery had taught her, she threw it at the light haired man. The boy stared at her with amazement as she continued to throw fireballs at the man.

The man screeched as he caught fire. _People always end up on fire in these situations, _Valkyrie thought to herself. She watched as Skulduggery knocked him out with a palm-strike.

Both Valkyrie and Skulduggery turned to the boy. "You are Fletcher Renn, right?" she asked him.

Fletcher nodded, a little speechless.

_A few minutes or so later, they are in the Bentley and on their way to Gordon's mansion(or house).._

Fletcher sat in the back, staring at the back of Valkyrie's head. She found this very annoying, but decided not to act on it. He had just seen a skeleton in a fight, after all.

"You saved my life." Fletcher said, still staring at Valkyrie.

"Yes, I did. Amazing, aren't I?" Valkyrie said half-heartily.

"Yes.. You're amazing. And you're pretty. I've never been saved by a pretty girl before." he continued.

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. She didn't know whether to be flattered or creeped out. "Well, you experience something knew every day." she said.

"You sure do.." he murmured. Valkyrie noticed Skulduggery stiffen next to her. That was odd. What was he thinking about?

The unconscious man next to Fletcher stirred, and Fletcher let out a yelp and whacked him over the head with his shoe, knocking him back out again.

Valkyrie laughed and shook her head.

They finally arrived at Gordon's mansion. Ghastly helped Skulduggery drag the unconscious man out and in to the house. They tied him to a chair and placed him in a small, dusty room.

As Skulduggery and Ghastly contacted the Sanctuary, Valkyrie and Fletcher were left alone in the hall.

Valkyrie took this time to get a better look at him. HIs hair was ridiculous- blonde and all spiked up, lathered with hair gel.

"Your hair looks ridiculous," she said, staring at him.

Fletcher looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "My hair is amazing, I'll have you know. Do you know how much time and effort goes in to making it look this cool?"

"No."

"Lots."

"Wow."

"I know," Fletcher grinned. He shuffled a little closer to Valkyrie, still grinning at her. Valkyrie raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?" she questioned him.

Fletcher shrugged and reached out to her face with his hand. Valkyrie, creeped out immensely, backed away from him. She was about to tell him to go away before she bit his hand off, when there was a crash from up the stairs.

Valkyrie darted up the stairs in time to see Ghastly be thrown against a wall by a Hollow Man. Her eyes widened as she glimpsed Skulduggery being dragged out of the window.

"Skulduggery!" She cried out, staring after him.

He was slowly pulled towards a large, black van. Standing next to the van was a tall, black haired man with a red glove on one of his hands. Was this the notorious Serpine that Skulduggery had been telling her about?

Wasting no time to find out, she leapt out of the window, using the air to cushion her landing. The van began to drive away, and Valkyrie sprinted after it desperately.

"Skulduggery!" she cried out again, gasping for breath.

Suddenly a hand pulled her to a halt, and she turned around to see Ghastly shaking his head at her.

_A few hours later.._

Valkyrie pulled the hat low over her eyes.

Ghastly had told her that Skulduggery would get out of this by himself, but Valkyrie wasn't going to count on it.

She was standing outside a castle. It wasn't the most impressive castle she'd ever seen, but it was very tall. And inside it, was Skulduggery.

_Meanwhile with Skulduggery.._

Skulduggery was tied to a slab of stone in a damp-smelling room. The door was to his right, wide open. But he knew he couldn't escape.

The magic on this stone took away his magic, his strength. He could barely lift a finger.

Letting out a sigh, he stared at the ceiling for what seemed like for ever, when Serpine walked in to the room, a smirk upon his lips.

"Ah, well this sure does bring back memories, Detective.." he muttered, circling Skulduggery like a vulture. "Do you remember those times? When I had you tied to a chair, and then I tortured you? Those were the days, Skulduggery, those were the days.." he patted Skulduggery's skull and smiled slyly.

"Yes, I remember those days, Serpine. They sure were fun.." Skulduggery managed to say.

"Now, Skulduggery.. all fun memories put a side.. We both know why you're here. Tell me where the key is, and I promise I won't hurt you that much." Serpine lent down and hissed in to his ear. "And if you don't.. Well.. I'll be sure to say hello to your little friend Valkyrie.. After I've crushed you."

Skulduggery's jaw clenched. He didn't know where the key was, but if he told Serpine that, would he believe him? Would he still go after Valkyrie?

_I could lie.. _he thought to himself, _and if I do end up dead, at least she will have Fletcher to go to._

Serpine grinned evilly, as though he had heard his thoughts. "I will eventually get it out of you, Mr Pleasant.." and with that, he raised his hand and pointed it at Skulduggery.

**Valkyrie's POV**

There was a deafening cry, and my head snapped round to the general direction of it. Was that Skulduggery?

Filled with adrenaline, I searched every room that I came across, but with no luck.

I was beginning to give up hope, when I finally came across a door that I had not opened yet. From inside the room, I heard talking.

Pressing my ear against the door, I could make out a man speaking, and Skulduggery groaning in pain. My eyes widened and I stepped back from the door. What should I do? Should I barge in there and kick the hell out of Serpine? Or would he notice I'm outside before I even make up my mind?

Shaking my head, I charged at the door and kicked it open.

An awkward silence filled the room as Serpine and Skulduggery stared at me. I hadn't really thought about what I'd do after I charged in.

"Who is that?" Serpine asked Skulduggery, who just tilted his head.

Pulling myself together, I shrugged off my coat and hat, and charged at Serpine, who got a face full of my fists.

Serpine flew backwards and his head hit the wall with a sickening '_thwack_'. I stared wide eyed at my hands.

"Dear lord, I'm epic." I said, and turned to Skulduggery. I looked at the rope keeping him to the stone and frowned. "I assume I have to burn that."

Skulduggery nodded, remaining silent. Sighing, I clicked my fingers and leant over him to get at the rope.

**General POV**

Valkyrie and Skulduggery were face to face. And very close to each other. Valkyrie's train of thought drifted off as she looked at Skulduggery. He still hadn't said anything.

Even though he had no eyes, Valkyrie knew that he was looking back at her. She found herself wanting to look away, to get on with getting him free, but she continued to stare at him.

Valkyrie leant closer to him so that she could reach the rope that kept Skulduggery bound to the stone. Skulduggery noticed how close their lips were as she did this, and he watched her look from the rope to his eyes.

He would have smiled if he had lips as her cheeks reddened, and she quickly looked away, turning her attention back to the rope. Eventually, it came undone and Skulduggery was free.

Valkyrie stood back up straight again as Skulduggery dusted himself off and ruffled her hair. "Thanks, Val." he said while taking a hold of Val's arm and ran out of the castle.

Once outside, they ran to the van. Skulduggery opened the door for Valkyrie and said "Get in, quickly!," she did as Skulduggery asked and got in the car. Skulduggery started the car and drove away.

_A few minutes later in the car._

"Thank you once more for saving me, Val. But don't come and save me on your own again, it can be very dangerous," Skulduggery said to begin a conversation. Valkyrie blushed and looked out of the window. 'I'm sorry, I was just.. Stubborn. Ghastly didn't want me to go either.' Skulduggery laughed at her reply, and shook his head.  
It was quiet for a while in the car, Valkyrie didn't know what to say, she felt awkward. 'Its me that's saved you for a change.' she said after a while, smirking to herself.

**ooOoo**

**Just managed to finished this one- sorry its so late.  
Ciao my fellow Nuggets!**


	6. A Day At The Beach (C6)

**Chapter 6 – A Day At the Beach**

**DISCLAIMER~~ We do not own anything from the Skulduggery Pleasant series! Derek Landy is the rightful and amazing owner of the awesomeness that is Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and all the other characters!**

**This chapter was actually written and planned out by Shan, and it was inspired by Mackinaw Weasel! (We'll continue Turn of the Tables -chapter 5- in the next chapter :3)**

**A le enjoy!**

**ooOoo**

Everyone was at the beach.

It was a sunny day, and there was no school and no cases. Nothing to do but relax.

Skulduggery was lying on a towel, pointlessly trying to get a tan- In fact, he wasn't even sure himself why he was trying to get a tan. Could his bones even tan? If it were possible, he was clearly failing.

He had a lot of questions on his mind.

_Why would Valkyrie save me on her own?_

_Why does she blush when I look at her?_

_What is this awkward and weird feeling I get when ever I'm near her? - No, wait, awkward and weird? It's actually quite a nice feeling._

Coming back out of the madness that was his mind, Skulduggery heard Tanith and Valkyrie playing. Ghastly and Fletcher were trying desperately to stay in the shade.

"Catch me if you can!" Tanith yelled playfully, who was being chased by Valkyrie in the shallow water near Skulduggery.

A spray of water fell on Skulduggery as they ran past, and he sat bolt upright, his trousers soaked. He would be glaring if he had eyes.

Sighing, he looked about, his gaze falling on Fletcher, who was watching the two girls with a smirk on his face. Skulduggery got up and wandered over to him.

"She's sweet, isn't she?" Fletcher said, nodding towards the two as Valkyrie tackled Tanith in to the water with a yell of triumph. Skulduggery shrugged his shoulders, and studied Fletcher as he continued to stare at them. Was that admiration in his gaze?

Skulduggery suddenly felt a pang of jealousy. He didn't like Fletcher looking at Valkyrie like that.

Valkyrie waded out of the water, leaving Tanith still flailing about in the water. She made her way towards them, and was about to say something when Skulduggery took her by the arm and began walking away, pulling her after him.

"Skulduggery-" she began, frowning. Skulduggery held up a finger to silence her and they continued along the beach until they came behind a rock face, alone.

"Have you noticed the way Fletcher has been looking at you?" He said, in a low, weird tone.

Valkyrie blinked, surprised, and was about to answer back with._"Well, I -am- in a swim suit, so why wouldn't he be?" _when she noticed the way he was holding his head. It wasn't tilted to the side, so he wasn't joking. When Skulduggery spoke again, his voice almost shook.

"-What- exactly does he think he's doing, looking at you like he does?" He clearly wasn't thinking straight. Why would Skulduggery be worried about something as meager as how someone looks at her?

"W-what do you mean, Skul?" She asked, a little intimidated by his sudden change of mood.

"You know what I mean, Valkyrie. I asked you that, nothing more, and nothing less."

Valkyrie raised her shoulders, not knowing how to answer him. She looked down at her feet and remained silent. _What's wrong with him? _she thought. Skulduggery let out a long, drawn out sigh.

Finally coming to his senses, he pulled Valkyrie close and wrapped a bony arm around her in a hug. With his other hand, he ran his fingers through her hair soothingly. "I'm sorry." he murmured.

Valkyrie sighed and softly hugged him back, burying her face in to his shirt. The strangely nice feeling returned.

Valkyrie felt warm, even though Skulduggery's bones were as cold as ice. (The tan-attempt hadn't worked at all.)

_I could stand like this for ever.. _they both thought in unison.

Unfortunately, Tanith broke the hug as she could be heard yelling for them both.

"GUUUUUUYS! GUYS! WHERE ARE YOU?"

They reluctantly came apart and went back to the others in silence. Valkyrie rubbed the back of the neck, feeling rather uncomfortable with the situation, but smiled.

As they came in to view of the others, who were looking around for them, Valkyrie called out, "Hey! Here we are, sorry!"

Tanith spun round to look at them, then began sprinting towards them. She collided with Valkyrie, tackle-hugging her to the ground.

"I WAS SO -WORRIED-!" she literally cried out in Val's ear as the others gathered around them.

"My bad, sorry." Skulduggery said, amusement in his voice.

"Can-.. Can someone please get her off me? I.. I can't breath." Valkyrie gasped.

Ghastly took a hold of Tanith and pulled her up and off of Val.

Valkyrie stood up and brushed the sand off of her. A few minutes later, Skulduggery walked to the Bentley and sat in there, alone, to think about his outburst. He confused himself. He couldn't quite pin down the word to describe how he felt about Valkyrie. Did he see her as a daughter?

Valkyrie noticed his absence and made her way to the Bentley, hoping to find him there.

When she did, she got in to the seat next to him and asked, "What's wrong?"

Skulduggery remained silent, thinking of a lie to tell her. But he couldn't bring himself to lie to Valkyrie, and it was getting late. So instead, he just wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and she leant in to him. Valkyrie drifted off to sleep after some time, and Skulduggery moved her in to the back of the car so she could sleep peacefully as he drove her home with the others.

**ooOoo**

**GUYZ. You know what to do ;3**

**- Shaniee!**


	7. Revenge (C7)

**Chapter 7 - Revenge**

**DISCLAIMER~~ We do not own anything from the Skulduggery Pleasant series! Derek Landy is the rightful and amazing owner of the awesomeness that is Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and all the other characters!**

**Haaiii nugz. Seeing as Shan wrote the amazing previous chapter, I shall write dis vun :3 Agaaaain.. Ideas are welcome (and needed. D:) Enjoooyy!**

**ooOoo**

Skulduggery, Valkyrie, Ghastly and Tanith faced Meritorious from across the other side of a large table. There were seats for them to sit on, but they ignored them.

"Grand Mage, we haven't got all day." Tanith said, a hand on her hip.

Meritorious glared at her, "I demand more respect, Miss Low."

Ghastly placed a hand on Tanith's shoulder, silencing her before she could answer back. "Excuse her, Grand Mage, but she's right. We don't have a lot of time."

Meritorious turned his back to them and sighed deeply. "What you suspect is certainly a big thing. Serpine after the Scepter of the Ancients? The scepter is a myth, and Serpine is an ally of ours. What he did to you, Skulduggery, is certainly unacceptable-"

"Unacceptable?" Valkyrie interrupted angrily. "It's more that god damned unacceptable! You still think of him as an ally when he _tortured _your Prime Detective?"

Tanith put her hands on the table, "Plus, he's broken the peace, and we're not going to sit here and wait for him to do so again." She added to the argument.

Meritorious raised a hand to his face. "Detective.. Leave me, and take your friends with you. I will contact you soon.."

Skulduggery, who had been silent throughout most of the meeting, ushered the others out.

Back at Skulduggery's place, Tanith and Valkyrie threw themselves on to the couch. A few minutes later, Fletcher appeared, seemingly upset that he didn't get invited to the meeting.

"You never include me in stuff.." He grumbled, rewarding himself with a pillow to the face from Valkyrie.

Skulduggery paced the hallway, his head down in concentration. Valkyrie watched him, wondering what he was thinking.

Suddenly, he stopped pacing and looked up. "I've got it." he said.

Tanith sat up and faced him. "Got what?"

"What the key is." He said, walking up to Valkyrie. "Val, you know that brooch that was given to your Aunt?"

Valkyrie groaned, not liking where this was going. "You're not telling me that the brooch.."

"..Is the key everyone's looking for." Skulduggery nodded. "You're going to have to get it."

Valkyrie glared up at him, "Not.. Over my dead body."

Skulduggery tilted his head to the side, slightly, "If you don't do this, there will be dead bodies."

She sighed, her hand running along her head. "Alright, fine. I'll do it."

Skulduggery nodded, patting her head.

_A few hours later.._

Valkyrie did not like this plan. She didn't like it one bit.

She never approaches her Uncle's family, unless she absolutely had to.

Taking a deep breath, she walked quickly up to the dreaded door of her Uncle's, and knocked quietly three times.

The door immediately opened, giving Valkyrie a fright.

"Stephanie? What a pleasant surprise." Her Aunt, Beryl greeted her with a forced smile.

"Uh, hey, Beryl. I just thought.." Valkyrie began, also forcing a smile on her face. She was not enjoying this. "I just thought that I'd come by and see how you all were."

Beryl looked at her in slight confusion, "Ah, well, how considerate of you.."

"Well, since Gordon's.. passing, I've been taking family very seriously. We should all talk more." Valkyrie said. Her words were partly true, though. She saw her mother and father as something even more dear to her now.

Beryl's expression softened slightly, and she smiled a little genuinely. "Yes, well.. I think that's how everyone sees it nowadays, it was very emotio-"

"So, I see you're not wearing the brooch." Valkyrie butted in, not wanting to go in to an in-depth conversation with her about emotions.

Beryl, a little taken aback, shook her head. "That hideous thing? No, no. That's staying in the jewellery box in my room, out of sight and out of mind."

Valkyrie fought back a frown. If it was in her room, how was she meant to get it? Suddenly, an idea popped in to her head.

"Uhm, Beryl? Can I use your bathroom?" she asked, crossing her legs, trying her best to look desperate.

Looking at her, Beryl was hesitant to let her in to her house, so Valkyrie barged past, running up the stairs, taking two at a time.

She slid sneakily in to her Aunt's bedroom and walked straight for the massive jewellery box sitting on a desk, smack bang in the middle of the room. A little too obvious, right?

It took her a few minutes to go through all the slots until she finally found the brooch, which was sitting on a white cushion by itself.

Sliding the brooch in to her pocket, she ran to the bathroom, flushed the toilet to complete her act, then skipped down the stairs again. Not stopping for Beryl to say anything, she waved goodbye. "Sorry, just realized I had something to do today! See you later!"

Valkyrie hurried away, thinking of many ways to make Skulduggery regret sending her to her Aunts. This brought a smile to her face.

_The next day, at Gordon's house/mansion.._

Valkyrie and Skulduggery made their way down to the basement. They'd just got a call saying that the Elders had all been murdered by Serpine. Skulduggery didn't say anything, but she knew that he was silently raging inside his head. What else would be going on in there, anyway?

Fiddling with the brooch in her hand, Valkyrie couldn't help but feel anxious. What was waiting for them in the caves? She didn't really want to find out.

Skulduggery opened the door, and they were faced with a wall of rock. Using the brooch, he found the lock and a section of the wall opened up in an arch.

Skulduggery and Valkyrie went through cautiously. They began to make their way through the caves slowly, being careful not to make too much noise. Most of the pathways were narrow, and hard to walk through. In attempt to make more room, she took off the coat that Ghastly had made for her and slung it over her arm.

It seemed like they'd been in the cave for ages, facing dead end after dead end. Whatever they were meant to be looking for, Valkyrie wasn't so sure. A chest, they had told her. But where?

"Skulduggery?" she whispered. He stopped and looked back at her. "Do you have any kind of idea where we are going?"

"Yes, of course." He said.

Relief washed over her and she smiled. "Really?"

"No. This is a cave that no one has been able to go through and ever make it back out again. But, I am thinking positively."

Valkyrie's smile vanished, and turned in to a frown. She punched Skulduggery's arm and muttered something about him being a complete idiot.

A sudden shuddering in the walls made them tense, glancing about in the near blackness for any signs of the cause.

A low, menacing laugh came from behind them. "Hello, Detectives.."

They spun around to see Serpine grinning at them. In the gloom, his grin made him look demented, and, possibly, insane.

"Thank you so much for opening the caves to me.." he said, laughing again. Valkyrie wanted to punch him in the face. Hard.

"Ah, a clever move, Serpine." Skulduggery said, his head tilted to the side. Valkyrie was between him and Serpine- a situation Skulduggery did not favour. But there was no room for him to move around her.

"Thank you, Detective. As much as I'd like to stay and chat, I have a weapon to look for. And I can't have you slowing me down." With that last comment, he raised a hand, and a tall, burly man stepped from behind him. "Kill the Detective."

Skulduggery pushed Valkyrie down in time to dodge a wave of grey energy shooting towards them. Skulduggery himself then clambered over Valkyrie and shot towards the burly man. He threw punches at him, and the man blocked and countered. Valkyrie had to stop herself from gazing in awe as Skulduggery broke past his defences and sent a palm-shot to his chin, rocking his head backwards and making him stumble backwards.

With a final kick to his face, the man went down. Skulduggery turned around to see if Valkyrie was okay, and froze. Right behind her stood Serpine, with that menacing grin on his face. Valkyrie, being unaware of this, raised an eyebrow at him. "What? Do I have something on my fa-"

She last words were choked as she felt a sudden, searing pain shoot through her shoulder. Speechless, she looked down and saw the silver tip of a dagger protruding from her skin.

_Why did I take off my coat..?_ she thought as she stumbled forwards. Skulduggery rushed forwards to steady her, but Serpine wrapped his arm around her throat and pulled her back to him, glaring at Skulduggery.

"You stay out of my way, or I'll kill your partner." he hissed. Valkyrie's eyes widened. She tried struggling, but yelled out in pain as Serpine twisted the dagger in her shoulder slightly.

Skulduggery was standing stock-still, staring at them. This was a situation he didn't like. But he had no way to change it. He watched Serpine back off, arm around Valkyrie's neck still, and slowly disappear in to the darkness.

**ooOoo**

**YAY! CLIFF HANGER! Probably not a very good one, but still :D**

**This will be continued in the next chapter, which we'll get up asap.**

**BTW- check out The Four Horsemen, and give your views on it for my friend :D**

**Ciao, nuggets.**


	8. Revenge Continued (C8)

**Chapter 8 – Revenge Continued**

**DISCLAIMER~~ We do not own anything from the Skulduggery Pleasant series! Derek Landy is the rightful and amazing owner of the awesomeness that is Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and all the other characters!**

**Me and Shan MAY have been a little over enthusiastic with this chapter O-o Hope you enjoy!**

**ooOoo**

Skulduggery remained where he was, staring at the place where Valkyrie had been only a few minutes ago. Why didn't he do anything? Was there even anything he _could _have done? If there was, why didn't he think of it?

_You could have saved her. _a voice said in his head. He'd heard it many times before, and was still judging on whether it was his insanity or subconscious.

_How?_

_You know how._

_No, I don't, otherwise I would have done it._

_I doubt you would have._

_How would you know?_

_I'm you._

_Maybe you are, but you don't know everything about us. _even as he thought that, he knew he was loosing the battle against himself.

_How can I not? I am you and you are me._

_Prove it._

_How? You'll just say I'm lying._

_No I won't. I'm a very trustworthy per-_

_You like her, don't you?_

_Like who?_

_The moon- Valkyrie._

_Yes, I do. She's like a daughter to me._

_Are you sure about that?_

_Of course I am. I'll ask her if you want me to._

_She's been kidnapped, you know._

_Yes, and who's fault it that's?_

_Mine._

_Exactly, yours._

_Of course it is._

_Yes, it is._

_So if she's a daughter to you, why didn't you do anything yourself?_

_A father doesn't need to save, only worry._

His insanity/subconscious remained silent, and so did he. Was he honestly having this conversation with himself?

_What feelings exactly were you referring to? _he asked himself.

_If you had a brain, you'd know.._

_Hey, I have a brain- huh. You're right..-_

_"This guy's insane.." _him and himself thought in unison.

Skulduggery shook his head in worry. He really had some problems.

Just then, his never-loosing-signal-mobile rang, interrupting his thoughts. Putting the mobile to where his ear would be, he answered in the calmest voice he could muster.

"Papa's Pizzeria, internet game sensation, speaking."

On the other side of the line, a baffled Fletcher handed the phone over to Ghastly, shaking his head.

"Hey, Skulduggery. Where are you?"

"I'm in the caves."

"Ah, so you made it, then. How's it going? Near the Scepter?"

"Valkyrie's been injured and kidnapped by Serpine, and I am standing where she was a few moments ago."

There was low muttering from Ghastly's side of the line as he conversed with Tanith.

"Hey, Skul?" Tanith's soft voice came. "You go after Val, and we'll come in to the caves and find you."

Skulduggery nodded, then realised they couldn't see him, and said, "Alright. Try not to get lost." and hung up.

He stared at the path where Serpine had disappeared in to, and began walking.

_Meanwhile, with Valkyrie.._

Valkyrie couldn't see anything.

Once Serpine deemed it far away enough from Skulduggery, he had blindfolded Valkyrie, then left her by a small lamp. The wound in her shoulder was searing with pain. Serpine decided to be especially evil and keep the dagger in the wound, causing her more pain and for it to swell.

A part of her was begging Skulduggery to come and rescue her, but her other half was begging him not to. If Serpine came across the Scepter, then she would be there too, and she could have a chance of getting it before he uses it. But the chances of her over powering Serpine once more, the first time being out of sheer luck, was in the negative zone.

Foot steps sounded Serpine's return from what ever evil psychopaths do in dark caves on their own.

"If you're thinking of the Detective coming to your rescue, then you can give up hope. Only I know the way around these caves." He smirked smugly, staring at his captive.

"Why aren't we there yet?" Valkyrie asked through gritted teeth. Any movement sent shots of pain through her shoulder.

"..What?"

"If you know your.. way around these caves.. Then why are we not.. at the Scepter yet?" She repeated.

Serpine grinned evilly. It was a shame Valkyrie could not see to appreciate the amount of evil the grin possessed.

"We, my dear, are not there yet because of reasons I cannot reveal to you, in case of your highly unlikely escape."

_Well, damn. _she thought, _There goes my foolproof plan._

_Back with Skulduggery.._

Skulduggery was jogging through the caves, with Valkyrie on his mind. Maybe his insane subconscious was hinting at another part of his feelings for her. Maybe she was more than just a daughter to him.

He came to another dead end and he almost let out a cry of pure frustration. But he didn't- he was too stylish for that.

He closed his non-existent eyes and let out a sigh. He wasn't concentrating.

Turning slowly, he made his way back the way he came, and turned a different corner.

After five minutes or so, he saw a faint light reflecting off a corner. He picked up his pace, and soon came to a half empty lamp, with oil trickling down the sides. A patch of blood could be seen on the side of a wall, then going in to a trail of blood leading in one direction.

Clenching his fists at the thought of Valkyrie hurting, he grabbed the lamp and began to follow the trail of blood. Serpine had killed his family- he was not going to let him kill Valkyrie, too.

Every now and again, the trail of blood stopped, and he'd have to search about for it. _This is all a bit too obvious.. _he thought to himself the whole time.

Eventually, he came across a large section of the vast caves. It was lit up with numerous candles, and right in the middle of it was a small, ancient looking chest. And next to it, an unconscious Valkyrie lying on the floor.

Rushing over to her, he gently slid a hand under her head to support her. He picked her up in his arms and took her to a corner of the cave, gently propping her up against the wall. She stirred and shook her head lightly. She looked up at him with dazed eyes. Then, she was on her feet.

"Skulduggery!" she said, staring at him. Skulduggery stood as well, staring back at her. "Skulduggery, Serpine's got the Scepter."

He nodded, "I figured as much. He's actually in this room as we speak."

That low, evil laugh, one that they'd heard too many times now that it was actually annoying, came from the other side of the cave. "I forgot you Elementals can use the air. How silly of me."

Serpine was standing next to the chest, a golden staff with a black crystal in it's crest in his hand. "Don't make any attempt to attack me, Skeleton. I can take you down in one shot."

Valkyrie's hand went to Skulduggery's arm in search of reassurance, and he glanced at her. "He won't shoot us with it, don't worry." he said.

Serpine grinned. "Wont I, now? How can you be so sure?"

"Because you want my second death to be as long and as painful as the last, don't you?"

"True- but I'm starting to reconsider it. I have ultimate power, and I can rule the world with it. Why waste my time on you when I can torture as many people as I want?"

Skulduggery tilted his head to a side, "I'm taking a wild guess here, but I don't think you'll actually be able to do that."

Serpine threw back his head and laughed, "Stop guessing then, my friend! You couldn't be more wro-"

His words were cut off as Tanith's blade slid slowly through his stomach.

From behind him, Tanith's face was expressionless as she kept driving the blade through him, and then twisted it. She leant in close and hissed in his ear, "You hurt Val, then you hurt us. And we'll hurt you."

She sounded so scary that Valkyrie backed off a little bit, even though she knew Tanith was on their side.

As she drew the blade back out of Serpine, she kicked him to the floor, the Sceptre falling out of his hand.

Serpine turned his head and watched as Ghastly and Fletcher ran in to the area, grim expressions on their faces.

"You've.. surprised me again, Detective." he gurgled, blood coming from his mouth.

Skulduggery walked up to him and stared at him coldly. He stooped down and picked up the Scepter with his bony hand. He looked at it for a few moments, then at Serpine.

"I'm going to be old fashioned and cheesy here- Any last words?"

A noise came from Serpine's throat that they all assumed was a failed attempt at a laugh, and Skulduggery shrugged. He pointed the Scepter at him and a flash of lighting flew from it, striking Serpine full in the face.

He turned to dust.

"Well.. Now that this party's over.. How about we get the heck outta here?" Fletcher said, offering a trembling hand out to everyone. Gratefully, they all held on to each other and Fletcher teleported them to outside the Sanctuary.

_A few hours later.._

After briefing the Sanctuary on their successful adventure, and after Valkyrie's wound had been seen to and patched up, they returned to Skulduggery's house.

Valkyrie lay on the long sofa, nursing her shoulder self-pityingly, whilst the others lounged about. Skulduggery sat on the floor next to the sofa Valkyrie was on and looked at her. He opened his mouth to say something to her, but she interrupted him-

"Don't blame yourself for what happened to me. There was nothing you could do."

"That wasn't what I was going to say- I was going to ask if you wanted some ice cream." he said blandly. Valkyrie glared at him and hit his skull with her free hand.

"I hate you."

"I know. But do you want some ice cream?"

"Yes please."

Skulduggery nodded and got up, leaving the room.

She watched him go and smiled faintly. He could be such a pain sometimes.

**ooOoo**

**THERE! I did it! Two chapters in two days. I'm so proud of me.**

**Anyway, we're going to be taking longer to upload our chapters seeing as we've also decided to make a FictionPress account and make our own story. We haven't started yet, but check us out in a couple of days - RandomGurlz FictionPress!**

**P.S - the previous chapter has been edited slightly before they enter the caves; only a small thing but you might wanna check it out, in case you get confused in the next few chapters.**

**Until next time-**

**Ciao, nuggets!**


	9. A Hot, Hot Day (C9)

**Chapter 9 – A Hot, Hot Day**

**DISCLAIMER~~ We do not own anything from the Skulduggery Pleasant series! Derek Landy is the rightful and amazing owner of the awesomeness that is Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and all the other characters!**

**HEY GUYS! Thank you all so much for the reviews (and leave more if you've got ideas etc etc!) and for being bothered to read this fanfic at all! I hope you enjoy it and such. Time for a new chapter.**

**SAYONARAAA!**

**ooOoo**

It's yet another sunny day, at 38 degrees. Pretty hot for Ireland.

So hot, in fact, that Valkyrie, who stupidly stayed in the sun for far too long, fainted from dehydration and from too much exposure to the sun.

Fletcher had picked her up and began to walk down a path, looking out for some place to lie her down. Skulduggery tapped him on the shoulder, and pointed towards a van. An ice cream van.

Fletcher picks up his pace and hurries over to a bench. He carefully places her on to the bench, which is intensely hot itself. As soon as her skin made contact with the bench, her eyes shot open and she cried out, flailing madly.

"FLETCHER!" she yelled, falling off the bench and on to the grass.

Fletcher fussed about her, trying to help her up, but she just pushed him away. "No, you'll just make it worse. Please, just go find something to cool me down before I punch you!" she said, frowning.

"Uh.. Yeah, sure, one moment.." he muttered, making his way back over to Skulduggery.

They make their way to the ice cream van, testing each other's pace as they compete to get there first.

The queue for the ice cream was, inevitably, huge.

Fletcher stared in disdain at the queue, then looked back at Valkyrie. There'd be no ice cream left by the time they got to the front.

Skulduggery coughed, tilting his head. He was wearing his not-too-convincing-disguise, and was staring at the queue. Suddenly, an idea came in to his head.

He began to take off his disguise, to the shock of Fletcher, and clapped his hands to catch everyone's attention.

"Excuse me, everyo- EXCUSE me." He called out loudly.

Everyone turned around, caught one glimpse of the skeleton and screamed, running off in different directions. Skulduggery nodded smugly and put back on his disguise.

Fletcher frowned slightly. "Do we have to call in Geoffry to sort that?"

Skulduggery shook his head. "It's a hot day- people will probably just assume that it's the heat."

And with that, he strolled up to the ice cream van. The man who was selling the ice cream, completely oblivious to what had just happened, greeted them kindly. "Hey there, what can I get you?"

Fletcher stood next to Skulduggery as he ordered a triple vanilla ice cream for Valkyrie, and noticed how cool the air was inside the van. He peered back at Valkyrie, grinning.

Once Skulduggery had been given the ice cream, they began to make their back to Valkyrie.

"Hey, Skulduggery.." Fletcher began.

"Yes, I know," Skulduggery answered, "That van had air conditioning. Exactly what Her Highness needs. I was thinking exactly the same thing."

Skulduggery handed Valkyrie the ice cream, who accepted it gratefully. She didn't look to good. He motioned for Fletcher to pick her up again as she licked her ice cream, and they wandered back to the ice cream van.

The man in the van (Rhymes! Happy mistake) looked at them with a puzzled face. "Back for more ice crea- OH LORD!"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as Skulduggery took away his hat and scarf, revealing his skull, and he clambered out of the van and ran down the street.

Skulduggery shook his head, "I feel hurt. People these days just don't like seeing walking, talking skeletons."

Valkyrie grinned faintly, "It's alright- as long as we love you, who cares?"

They clambered in to the van, and Fletcher, taking advantage of the situation, placed her on his lap and began fanning her with a napkin. Valkyrie leaned her head back against his shoulder and let out a sigh, gratefully accepting the cold air.

Skulduggery watched this with increasing jealousy. She should be on _his_ lap, not Fletcher's.

Unable to watch any longer without punching Fletcher, Skulduggery excused himself and went outside the van and sat on the pavement.

_Just admit it._ There was that god damned voice again.

_Admit what? _he replied, mentally sighing.

_You like her._

_Yes, we've already discussed this, she's like a dau-_

_Don't give me that 'she's like a daughter to me' cra-_

_Language._

_English._

_What?_

_Never mind._

_What's this 'you like her' nonsense about, then?_

_Think, numskull. You get jealous every time Fletcher even touches her arm._

_No, I get concerned. Not jealous._

_It's jealousy, pal._

_What ever you say.. _seriously, this guy's nutty.

Shaking his head and having enough of arguing with himself, Skulduggery got up and walked back towards the van. He faltered at the door, keeping out of sight as he heard Fletcher and Valkyrie talking.

"You're really beautiful, you know that?" he could hear Fletcher saying.

"And you're a pretty little boy." Valkyrie smirked.

"I give you a compliment and you try to insult me?" Fletcher asked, his hand sneaking up to touch her face.

"It's the heat- I think my brain's melted." Valkyrie murmured.

He ran a hand along her cheek and she stared at him, confused. "What're you doi-"

"You're still beautiful, whether your brain's been melted or not."

"My face is red."

"You make it look cute."

"Dude, I'm sweating.."

"Doesn't bother me." Fletcher smiled. He pushed a few strands of her hair from her face and slowly leant forward, and..

He kissed her.

And it was at this point that Skulduggery decided to walk in. He saw them, and froze, a million thoughts zooming through his head.

He nodded slightly and turned away.

**ooOoo**

**MY OH MY. What happened there?! :O Jess, how dare you make me think of something so HORRIBLE! - I am just kidding, people. It's not her fault. I thought of it. MOI, SHAN!**

**And my fellow Valduggery-fans.. DON'T WORRY. It won't become a Fletchyrie! I PROMISE YOU.**

**If you are a Fletchyrie fan.. Then shoo! This is not for you! .. I AM WARNING YOU! ;O**

**Just take a look at chapter 11 when it's up! 'Cause next is Jess, she will be doing 10.**

**YOU KNOW WHAT YOU SHOULD DO! (Review and give us ideas! D: Or tell us what ye thought of this!) - Just a reminder.**

**~Shaniee**


	10. A Hot, Hot Day Concluded (C10)

**Chapter 10 – A Hot, Hot Day Concluded**

**DISCLAIMER~~ We do not own anything from the Skulduggery Pleasant series! Derek Landy is the rightful and amazing owner of the awesomeness that is Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and all the other characters!**

**Shan doin' this one aswell. Enjoy!**

**ooOoo**

Valkyrie's eyes flickered to the doors to the van, just as Fletcher leaned in to kiss her, and she saw Skulduggery.

As Fletcher's lips made contact with hers, Skulduggery froze. Her heart pounded as she watched him nod and turn away.

She pushed Fletcher off her (much to Fletcher's surprise and disappointment), and got to her feet, all fatigue from earlier gone.

"Skulduggery, wait!" She called, climbing out of the van and running up to him. She placed a hand on his arm in an attempt to turn him around. He didn't budge.

Scowling, she ran in front of him, and he stopped just in time, preventing a collision.

"Listen, Skulduggery- I'm sorry. I didn't know he was going to do that!" she exclaimed as Skulduggery looked down, his hat covering most of his eye sockets. He didn't know what to say, or how to react.

_Say something, you look retarded just standing there._

He wasn't even surprised when the voice started talking to him anymore.

_Well, what do -you- think I should say?_

_Something smart, something clever._

_Yes well, I can't think of anything to say at this very moment._

_Have you cornered, does she? A thirteen year old girl?_

_She's an exception._

_Oh really.._

Valkyrie stared at him and raised an eyebrow as he had a private conversation with himself, the things he was saying were inaudible to Valkyrie.

"Uhm.. Skulduggery? You alright there..?"

Skulduggery jumped slightly at her voice, and looked at her.

"I apologize. I was.. Thinking out loud."

Heavy foot steps sounded Fletcher's arrival as he came jogging up to them. Skulduggery's head turned slightly towards him and he subtly held out a hand, manipulating the air in front of him, causing Fletcher to face-plant in to a solid wall of air.

Fletcher glared at them from the floor, "Okay, what the heck is your problem?"

Valkyrie, to add to the effect, walked smoothly up to him and kicked him in the special place.

Fletcher rolled over, his mouth gaping in silent pain, tears threatening.

Valkyrie, quite happy with the results, backed up and bumped in to Skulduggery. Before she turned around, Skul's bony arms were around her shoulders in one of her most favourite skelly hugs.

Relaxing slightly, she smiled. But soon that smile wavered, as the heat got to her again.

Not trusting her knees to stand, she slowly slid down to the ground, Skulduggery following to support her.

Once she could walk, he helped her walk back in to town to where the Bentley was parked, leaving Fletcher behind.

Back at Skulduggery's house, they both slumped down on to the sofa. Well, Valkyrie did. Skulduggery's too elegant for that.

They remained silent for a while, both thinking about the kiss. Skulduggery wanted to talk about it.

As if reading his mind, Valkyrie turned to him and sighed. "Skulduggery, I want you to know that he kissed me against my will. I'm sorry it happened. Fletcher's an idiot."

If Skulduggery had lips, he'd be smiling. He pulled her close and wrapped an arm around her in another hug.

They just sat there, hugging, seeing as no one else was in the house.

It was quiet- not that uncomfortable, awkward quiet. It was nice.

They were still like this when an angry Fletcher stomped through the door, his fists clenched and his face resembling a tomato.

"SERIOUSLY? YOU -LEFT- ME?" He glared at them.

Valkyrie stood up, and walked calmly over Fletcher. She stood right up close to his face.

"Fletcher.." she began, pausing slightly for effect. "If you ever try to kiss me again, whether I'm vulnerable and confused or not, I will do much.. much worse than kick you."

Fletcher put his hands up in submission and backed away, staring in surprise at her.

Valkyrie flashed him a smile and then went to sit next to Skulduggery again.

Fletcher glared at them again and murmured something that the others couldn't hear. He wandered in to the kitchen and sat on the counter.

The door opened and Ghastly and Tanith walked in, laughing hysterically at something random.

As they wander in to the living room, they stare at Valkyrie and Skulduggery, then at Fletcher in the kitchen.

"Uh.. What happened?" they asked.

"Nothing." the three said in unison.

Ghastly and Tanith shrugged and sat down on chairs. Valkyrie and Tanith began talking, and Valkyrie questioned Tanith.

"So, where've you been?"

Tanith simply smirks and shrugs her shoulders.

**ooOoo**

**WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPS dear 'Nuggets'.. Jess wanted to end the CLIFFHANGER sooooooo I had to do this one tooooooo.. Sigh. But don't be mean to her. I know she just HAD to know the ending. Hehe! But here it is. I know it's not a good one, but AN ending is better than none, right? ESPECIALY with the Fletchyrie bit!**

**YOU KNOW.. That you should write a review right..? To.. Uhh.. Let us know what you want to read next? OR ATLEAST give us your opinion of what you thought of this chapter, or of what you thought of the story so far!**  
**ALSO if you like how we write the story, check out our own story that we thought of ourselves!**

**RandomGurlz at FictionPress :)**

**~Shaniee**


	11. Val's Valentine (C11)

**Chapter 11 – Valentine's Day**

**HEYY GUYS!**

**IT'S VALENTINE'S DAY!**

**A reminder to all you single people out there that.. YOU'RE SINGLE!**

**(God hates singles on this day T_T)**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter seeing as it's devoted to this day!**

**Enjooooyy!**

**ooOoo**

"Wake up."

Valkyrie shook her head and rolled over, a pillow hiding her face.

"No."

"Valkyrie, wake up."

"Bite me."

"Don't tempt me."

Lowering the pillow so she could see over it, she raised an eyebrow at the skeleton. The skeleton stared back at her and she scowled.

"FINE! Get out, though. I need to get dressed."

Skulduggery shrugged and left, closing the door after him. She kicks the bed covers off of herself and shivers- sure is cold today.

Dragging herself over to the dresser full of her spare clothes that she keeps at Skulduggery's house, she takes out her school uniform and puts it on, an expression of disgust visible all the time.

She opens the door, glaring at Skulduggery as she passes, and goes to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

After that, she goes in to the kitchen and looks in the cupboards- no food. She shrugged and closed the cupboard. This was a skeleton's house, after all. Skulduggery enters the kitchen and stares at her, his arms crossed.

Turning to him, she asks, "What?"

He shrugs. "Nothing."

Rolling her eyes, she grabs her bag and goes for the door.

"Take me to school- I don't want to have to walk there today."

Sighing, Skulduggery followed her out.

_A few minutes later, outside the school.._

"Well, there you go." Skulduggery said as he parked the Bentley. "Go have a nice day- and, Happy Valentine's."

Valkyrie gave him a smile and nodded, leaving the car. As soon as she got out, Skulduggery reversed and drove away.

Sighing, Valkyrie hitched her bag up on to her shoulder and began to make her way to the school.

As she approached the door, she got the over whelming feeling of irritation whenever someone's looking at her. At the corner of her eye, she glimpsed to culprit, but decided on not acting on it, seeing as it was Valentine's day.

She could let people gaze at her admirably for once.

She opened her locker and went to shove her bag in side it, when she paused. A red letter fluttered out and on to the ground.

Raising an eyebrow and glancing about, she leant down and picked it up. Attached to the letter was a red rose.

Making sure no one was watching, and she opens it.

_My dearest Stephanie,_

_I trust you are well my darling._

_Darling, I really wanted to let you know how special you are to me. Every time I see you, I get butterflies in my stomach._

_I really admire your gorgeous, mysterious black hair. Whenever I see it I can't help but notice how shiny it is. I often wonder if you clean it using shoe polish. Technically speaking that would work, but I guess it would smell a bit weird, so I reckon it must be naturally shiny._

_I can't remember if I've already told you this but I really do love your smile. It's one of the many reasons I love looking at you my love. Sometimes I wish I could do nothing but stare at your smile all day, but I'm not sure that's a good idea, my love, as people will probably think I'm some kind of nut case and I might get taken away by the men in white coats._

_Happy Valentines Day, my love!_

_Love,_

_Your Admirer_

As she read through the letter, her face turned a light shade of red. She raised the rose to her nose and she inhaled the sweet scent. Did someone really send her this?

Allowing herself a small smile, she grabbed her things and went to her class room. During the lessons, she sits, half-listening to the teacher, and thinks about who could have possibly sent her it.

A disturbing thought came to mind and she made a face- could it have been Fletcher? She shivered slightly at the thought.

Saving her from that thought, the bell rang for lunch time.

She gathered her things together and made her way to the canteen to join the lunch queue.

When she got to the front, she asked the lunch lady if she could get a muffin. Then she looked at the muffin tray, and, to her dismay, it was empty. Sighing, she moved on and grabbed a plate of food. At least she liked this.

She sat down and began to eat her lunch- thank goodness it was only a half day today. She spent most of her lunch time just sitting there, trying to think of who sent her the card. She couldn't say she had many friends- in fact, she hardly had any.

_This person must know me well, though.. _she thought to herself.

After lunch, the bells rings- school's out.

Val makes her way back to her locker and gets out her bag- she stops again. On her bag was a note, and on the note, someone had wrote;

_Stephanie,_

_Meet me at the park at 10.00 pm._

_Your Admirer_

Fed up with this secret guy already, she puts her stuff in her bag and makes her way to Skulduggery's house.

_Skulduggery's house.._

Sitting with the notes and the rose on her lap, Valkyrie let out a long sigh. She still had no idea who her admirer was.

As if sensing mystery, Tanith spun around and leapt on to the sofa next to her. "LOVE LETTERRR!" she cried out.

Valkyrie smiled at her and let her read them. "I don't know who sent me it, though."

Tanith twirled her imaginary moustache and nodded slowly. "Mmhm. Yup. I see. WELL! All you've gotta do is go meet him tonight then!" she concluded- stating the obvious.

"Yeah, I'm going to. I seriously have no idea who it could be, though.." Valkyrie sighed again.

They ate dinner eventually, when Skulduggery realized they all had to eat to live.

It was nearly 10:00 by the time she finished eating, and had to jog to the park to be there on time.

She thought she'd be nervous about this, but really, she'd never felt.. cooler.

She eventually got to the park- only being ten minutes late. She looked around, but no one was there.

She started to doubt herself. What if this was just a cruel trick? She had quite a few enemies, so it could be that.

She sat on the swing and shrugged. If it was, there wasn't anything they could do that would effect her.

She decided to sit it out and wait for someone to show up.

_An hour later.._

Valkyrie was seeing how high she could go on the swing without going over the bar and flying off in to oblivion.

It was fun, but she was getting bored of it. Bored of waiting.

She slowed the swing down and frowned. Maybe she should just go home. Who ever it was obviously wasn't going to show, so why make a fool of herself?

She found herself being a little disappointed as well. She had really thought that someone actually did like her- someone from her school. But she was certain that this was all a joke.

So, she got off the swing and began to make her way back to Skulduggery's, her gaze not lifting from the ground.

"Oh well, Tanith will have a gre- Ooff!" she walked straight in to a tall, dodgy looking figure who was wearing a long black jacket and a black hat.

Her eyes widened and she backed off, thoughts of her being kidnapped flashing through her mind. When the man started to take off the jacket and hat, she backed off even more.

It was Fletcher.

Valkyrie made a face and stared at him. "Fletcher?!" She said, not quite sure what he was doing here.

He just smiled at her and offered her his coat, seeing as she was shivering. It was rather cold, after all.

She took it warily and put it on. He put an arm around her and rubbed her shoulders in attempt to warm her up.

"So.. Did you like the card and the rose?" He asked quietly, smiling at her.

_So it WAS him! _Valkyrie thought to herself, panicking.

"It was uhh.. it was unexpected, but nice, I suppose." she murmured. She had honestly expected someone different.

Fletcher smirked a little too smugly for her liking and leaned in close to her.

It took her a moment to realize what he was trying to do, and when she did, her knee shot up and hit him in his special place. Just like last time.

Fletcher froze, a pained expression on his face. Ever so slowly, he slipped down and fell to the floor, curled up in agony.

"You never learn, do you?" She said, taking off his coat. She put the coat over him and waited for him to get over it.

Eventually, he stood back up, wiping manly tears from his eyes. "I'm never going to try and be nice to you again, Valkyrie." he muttered.

Valkyrie grinned and slapped him on the back. "Good. Now, let's go back." She walked ahead of him swiftly, not waiting for him to reply.

When they reached home, Tanith saw her come in with Fletcher, and was immediately on the floor with fits of laughter.

"O-oh! Oh dear! HE is your v-valentine?!" she gasped, holding her side as she continued to laugh hysterically.

Fletcher went a bright red and stormed up stairs in embarrassment. Valkyrie kicked Tanith and threw herself on to the sofa.

Worst. Valentine's. Ever.

**ooOoo**

**Sorry if it's terrible- I'm never good with romantic stuff, so I made it as unromantic as I could! :D**

**Hope you all liked it :) And Happy Valentine's Day- even to those who hate it!**

**Ciaaoo.**


	12. Bad Weather (C12)

**Chapter 12 – Bad Weather**

**DISCLAIMER~~ We do not own anything from the Skulduggery Pleasant series! Derek Landy is the rightful and amazing owner of the awesomeness that is Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and all the other characters!**

**So.. This chapter.. Well, if you like anime, you'll know immediately where love-struck Shan got the idea for this one from. Obviously, it's been altered to fit the.. 'style', I guess, of Skulduggery and Valkyrie. All the same- enjoy!**

**Keep up with the reviews!**

**ooOoo**

It was pouring it down.

The sun had gone in to hiding once and for all, and had left the clouds to their mischief.

In fact, pouring it down was an understatement. The rain was literally throwing itself at the ground and everything around, including Valkyrie.

She had made the stupid decision to go home early from Skulduggery's- but she wanted to walk home, for some unknown reason. She wasn't even sure they knew she'd left. She just got her things and went out of the door.

And now she was regretting it.

Soaked to the bone, she trudged on down a dark road, not too far from the pier.

She kicked a stone and watched it fly away down the road. She watched it until it stopped at a pair of feet.

She looked up from the stone and at the person standing there. Well, at the two guys standing there.

She raised an eyebrow as she stopped in front of them. They were just standing there, looking at her.

"What's a young lady such as yourself wandering about at this time of night?" one of the men asked her, taking a step closer to her.

It was hard to make out most of his facial pictures in the gloom, but she was certain that these guys were dodgy.

I shrugged a reply, staring back at them. She was determined not to be intimidated by a couple of creeps.

The other man stepped forward this time. "All by yourself? Maybe we should escort you."

"Are you two for real? You're asking a young girl if she wants two creeps who hang around in the middle of roads at night to take her home? No thanks." she said, and she started walking again. She shuddered slightly as she passed them.

A hand went to her shoulder and spun her around. "I think you've got the wrong idea- who ever said we were going to escort you -home-?" The first man sneered at her, and his buddy went and grabbed her other arm.

Valkyrie frowned and started to panic. "Get off of me, creeps!" She struggled against their hold as they began to drag her in the opposite direction of the pier.

_A little further back, up the path she had walked.._

Skulduggery took off his hat and shook the rain from it. His plan of stalking Valkyrie was going well. She didn't suspect him in the slightest.

She thought that no one had noticed her when she left, and she never said good bye, so he decided to follow her.

At this time of the stalking stage, he reckoned she was just going home. But something was up, otherwise she would have asked for him to drive her home, especially in this weather.

He put his hat back on and looked down the path to see Valkyrie standing in front of two, dodgy looking men.

Valkyrie, having been held up by the two men, fell to her knees. Skulduggery knelt in front of her and took a hold of her shoulders.

If he had lips, he would be frowning. He crossed to the other side of the road to where the trees covered most of the path and slowly made his way down to them, being extra careful as to not being seen.

As he got close enough to hear them, Valkyrie started walking again.

Then one of the men put a hand on her shoulder, and Skulduggery clenched his fists. He could see where this was going.

When they began to drag her away, he pulled his gloves tighter over his hands and ran at them.

Seeing as they had their backs to him, he had the element of surprise, and landed a full-on punch in to the back of the first guy's head. The man collapsed to the floor, unconscious from the impact of the blow.

The other man turned around, saw his partner on the floor, and legged it up the path.

Valkyrie, who had been held up by the two men, fell to her knees. Skulduggery knelt in front of her and took a held of her shoulders.

"Valkyrie- are you okay? Did they do anything to you?" he said, searching her face for signs of pain.

Valkyrie looked up at him and smiled slightly, "No, I'm fine. They only held me. Thank you."

Skulduggery let out a sigh of relief. "Valkyrie, you're not to go anywhere without telling someone who can protect you, okay?"

"What, so you can tag me every time I leave the house? So much for human rights, Skulduggery." Valkyrie frowned at him.

"Valkyrie, what if something like this were to happen again.."

"Then I'll train harder and be better prepared! You don't have to know where I am all of the ti-"

"Valkyrie.. You're a young girl. You may wield magic but you're still a girl." Skulduggery sighed at her.

Valkyrie shrugged his hands off of her shoulders and raised an eyebrow. Skulduggery sensed her stubbornness coming up and he stood.

"Valkyrie, I wont talk to you until you realize your mistake."

Valkyrie pouted slightly, and stood as well. "You're going to -ignore- me? Well. Have fun." and she turned around, making her way back to her house.

When she got to her house, it was empty. The two men flashed in to her mind and she ran in to the kitchen. On the fridge was a note from her mum.

Valkyrie relaxed as she read that her dad's company needed them some place for the night, so they left dinner in the fridge for her.

She felt overly tense as she sat down at the kitchen table, her head in her hands.

Was Skulduggery being serious? What made him think that giving her the silent treatment would make her realize anything?

She supposed that she owed him something for kicking those guys butt's though, but she couldn't go back and tell him that now, could she?

As she pondered her situation, the front door creaked open.

She snapped her head up and looked in the direction of the door. "Hello?" she called out wearily.

She got no reply.

She scanned the kitchen for some kind of weapon, and her eyes landed on a bread knife sitting next to the sink. She grabbed it and made her way to the front door.

It was swinging back and forth with the wind, but no one seemed to be there.

_Probably already in side the house.. _she thought to herself.

There was a clattering in the hall behind her, and before she could react, and arm wrapped around her throat, whilst another restrained her hand with the knife in it.

"Where's your ninja friend, now, little girl?" a husky voice whispered in to her ear through clenched teeth.

Valkyrie shuddered, hating the feeling of his breath in her ear. She lashed out backwards, kicking him multiple times, but to no prevail. He held her, trying to get the knife from her hand.

Something exploded through the window in the kitchen and a tall, thin figure stepped up in front of them.

"Skulduggery!" Valkyrie spluttered, gasping for air.

Skulduggery took a hold of the man's shoulders from behind her and literally hauled him over their heads and towards the door way. Manipulating the air, Skulduggery pushed the door, and made it slam straight in to the man's head as he fell forwards.

Valkyrie, breathing heavily, walked up to the man, the knife still in her hands. She raised it slightly, glaring down at the unconscious human.

She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder and she turned to see Skulduggery looking at her. She dropped the knife a few inches from the man's leg and fell to her knees once again, holding back tears.

Skulduggery took off his jacket and put it over her and held her close in a skelly hug.

They stay like that for a while- mainly because Skulduggery had no idea what to say.

He kept going to say something, then decides against it. He was never really good in these situations.

Finally, he thought up something that would express his never ending concern and care for her-

"Are you okay?"

Valkyrie looks up at him with a look that suggests that if he weren't already dead, she'd kill him, so he tried something else.

"You know, this means you'll have to work harder in your training."

Valkyrie punched his arm and remained silent.

"Well. Seeing as you're not going to say anything, I'll just keep talking.."

"God, no." she murmured.

"You know, I was right after all. And if I hadn't been here to sa-"

"Thank you for saving me- now _please _shut up before I kill you." she said, rolling her eyes at him.

Skulduggery smirked and hugged her again.

**ooOoo**

**Well, thar you go.**

**Please review!**

**- Shaniee!**


	13. The Sea Hag (C13)

**Chapter 13 – The Sea Hag**

**Hey!**

**So.. Been a lil' bit since the last chapter- but no worries! Here's the next one!**

**Enjoy! ^_^**

**ooOoo**

Valkyrie and Tanith were watching TV when Fletcher suddenly appeared in the room with Skulduggery. Fletcher looked as white as a sheet of paper.

"Uhh.." Valkyrie sat up on the sofa. "What's happened? Did Skulduggery glare at you again?"

Fletcher shook his head and tried to flash her a cocky smile.

"He does that all the time- I don't think it effects me as much anymore." He slumped down next to Valkyrie and sighed.

The two girls looked to Skulduggery who went to fold up his coat. "We've just had word of a series of killings. All of the victims were teleporters. Seems now that Fletcher is the last one.."

Valkyrie patted Fletcher's shoulder lightly.

"I can see why you'd be afraid, Fletcher, but don't worry. We won't let who ever's doing this kill you."

Fletcher turned his face away and scowled. "I'm not afraid. I can be anywhere any time I want. Easily evade them."

"Except for one fact," Skulduggery said, straightening his tie. "That I suspect that the murders were done by people the teleporters knew well."

Fletcher flashed him a look that said 'I was there, numb-nuts.'

"So, have we any lead on who this might be?" Valkyrie asked, restraining herself from hitting Fletcher.

Skulduggery was silent for a moment. He turned around and left, flicking his phone from his pocket.

They heard him talking in to the phone in the hallway.

After a few minutes he came back in to the living room. "Seems we may have a lead. There was a teleporter years back who claimed he knew how to open the gate to the Faceless Ones. He was friends with a man who wanted to know this information, and he willingly told him. What he knew was just theory. And when the man was told, he killed the teleporter by a lake."

"And.. What's this got to do with the other killings?" Valkyrie asked.

"Well.." Skulduggery went on to explaining to her about some stuff which the person writing this fanfic doesn't really understand herself and doesn't have the time to research it, and comes to talking about the Sea Hag.

"Sea Hag?" Valkyrie recoiled.

"Yes. And we need her to let us talk to the teleporter who was killed." Skulduggery said, going to pick up his coat again.

Rolling her eyes, Valkyrie got up. She turned to Tanith. "Look after wuss here."

Tanith grumbled something about not being a babysitter as Skulduggery and Valkyrie left.

An hour or so later, Skulduggery and Valkyrie stood at the edge of a forest, in front of a dreary looking lake. The fog hovered low, so it was hard to make out anything. From his pocket, Skulduggery took out a tiny silver bell and rang it.

".. Is that it?" Val whispered, looking with disappointment at the bell. The noise it had made was barely louder than a whisper.

Skulduggery tilted his head to the side. "It was enough." And motioned with his head towards the lake.

**(The description coming up of the Sea Hag isn't 100% accurate! In fact, probably not right at all. Doing this from memory.)**

There, rising out of the lake, was probably the ugliest and fattest woman she had ever seen. The woman's skin was wrinkled and saggy, layers folding under her chin. Her hair resembled seaweed as she flicked it from her eyes.

"Do you not like my bell?" She gurgled at Valkyrie, glaring with grey eyes.

Gulping, Valkyrie shook her head. "No it err.. Its a very nice bell."

The Sea Hag swooped closer until Valkyrie could smell her fishy breath. "Do you wish to drown?"

"Uh.. No thank you."

"Pity.." The Hag backed off again and went back to sitting on the water.

Skulduggery cleared his non-existent throat and spoke. "We require some information about a teleporter who was murdered right here a few years ago."

The Sea Hag studied them with a sneer upon her lips. She slowly rose above them in attempt at intimidation.

"Oh really? Well.. Why don't you just ask him yourself?" And with a wave of her wrinkly hand, a tall, corpse-like figure rose up from the water. His clothes were torn and ragged and dripping wet. His cheeks were literally hollow and his eyes were grey and pleading. **(I feel like I'm typing out some creepy fairy tale..)**

"Is that the teleporter?"

"No, its my grand father- of course its the teleporter." The Sea hag snapped at Skulduggery, who just shrugged and faced the corpse man.

"Do you remember being killed here, some years ago?"

The man raised his head with what looked like a lot of effort and stared at them. "I want to touch land."

".. Okay, but first answer my question-"

"I don't like it in the water."

Valkyrie face palmed as Skulduggery tried again.

"I'll get you out of the water as soon as you tell me who killed you.."

"Hold on a second! He's not going anywhere- he belongs to the sea.." The Sea Hag hissed at them.

Skulduggery ignored her and motioned for the corpse man to speak.

"Yes.. He was my friend- I told him of the portal and of the Faceless Ones.. And then he killed me."

"Yes yes, but what was his name?" Valkyrie asked impatiently, earning a hateful glare from the Sea Hag.

"His name was Batu."

Wasting no more time, Skulduggery nodded at Valkyrie, and she launched herself in to the water and began swimming towards the corpse man.

The Sea Hag let out a piercing cry and threw herself at Valkyrie, only to be intercepted by Skulduggery as he pushed at the air and knocked her backwards.

They collided with each other, and the Sea Hag dragged him under the water. Valkyrie set her mind on getting the corpse man back on to land. She reached him, and realized he was floating above the water.

"Uhh.. Do I just pull you down?" Valkyrie asked him, staring.

He rolled his shoulder pathetically and she sighed, grabbing at him foot. She pulled him down slowly, and as soon as he was up to his shoulders in the water, he went limp.

"Uhm.. I suppose I'll carry you to shore, then." Valkyrie put his arm around her shoulder and held on to his waist as she began to swim back to the shore.

"Will you bury me when we get to land?" The corpse man asked her.

"Yeah, sure. We owe you." Valkyrie tried her best not to gag at the smell of him.

A gurgle came from underneath them, and then they were being propelled through the air. The corpse man got blasted away from her and he hit the ground first.

Valkyrie was shooting right for the trees, and she couldn't decide whether she was fortunate or not that the branches broke her fall, as she had many splinters and gashes on her face and hands.

She groaned as she rolled over after she hit the floor, thankful that the clothes Ghastly had made her lessened the impact slightly.

A few moments later, Skulduggery came out of the water, his suit dripping wet, and ran over to Valkyrie.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine- just splinters." She smiled thinly at him. She motioned over to the lifeless corpse (well duuhh), faceplanting in to the ground.

"Ah, he won't be talking any more." Skulduggery said, helping her to her feet. They walked over to the corpse and stared at it.

"You take the arms, I'll take the legs- and what did you with the Sea Hag?" Valkyrie asked as she picked it up by the legs.

Skulduggery grabbed it by it's armpits and shrugged. "Let's just say I've made some improvements on her face."

Valkyrie let out a bark of laughter, jerking the legs backwards. She recoiled when one of the legs came off as Skulduggery moved backwards, and she was left holding a leg.

"Bring that with you!" He called to her.

Putting a hand over her mouth and nose, she jogged after him, dragging a long a tattered leg.

**ooOoo**

**There you gooo..**

**Sorry if its not all that good, especially seeing as you had to wait a bit :)**

**The flu is a harsh thing! And seeing as I'm feeling clever today as well as ill..-**

**"Wise men talk because they have something to say- fools talk because they have to say something."**

**:D Ciao nuggets!**


	14. Picnic Anyone? (C14)

**Chapter 14 – Picnic Anyone?**

**DISCLAIMER~~ We do not own anything from the Skulduggery Pleasant series! Derek Landy is the rightful and amazing owner of the awesomeness that is Skulduggery and Valkyrie, and all the other characters!**

**Hey guys!**

**It's been.. A WEEK! :O**

**Haha, sorry about that. We've been majorly preoccupied with the pain that is school, life and what not.**

**We've decided to do a chapter a week, and possibly one at the weekend.**

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoy!**

**ooOoo**

It wasn't exactly what you'd call a hot day- it was slightly cold and every now and again, a chilling gust of wind swept past the odd group of people sitting on a blanket in an open field.

What does a group of crime solving and kick-ass fighters do on a day like this?

Go for a picnic.

Valkyrie was sick of sitting around in dusty old rooms with withering books, waiting for Skulduggery to catch up on history.

They'd found out that apparently Batu is the infamous leader of the Diablerie. The Diablerie consisted of the definite members- Murder Rose, Gruesome Krav and Jaron Gallows. All three are very dangerous.

Valkyrie had recently found out that China Sorrows had founded and lead the Diablerie in the great war, and fought along side Mevolent.

China had sworn that she'd put all of the Faceless Ones n nonsense behind her, and was now neutral to both sides. Which did her well- she could just lend out books to people she thought were 'good'.

In front of Valkyrie sat Fletcher, a reluctant Ghastly, Tanith and a somewhat dodgy looking skeleton, who's façade was playing up.

China had installed this sort of thing on Ghastly, so that he could wander around without people pointing and staring at his scarred face, and Valkyrie had suggested it to Skulduggery, who, after some bribing and threatening, gave it a shot.

She made a face and stared at him as an eyeball slowly made its slow journey down the side of his waxy face.

"Ehh.. You can put the façade down now, Skul. Your eye has gone for a walk."

Skulduggery looked (or at least attempted to) at her and shrugged, tapping the symbols on his collar bone, and the face disappeared to reveal a smooth, white skull.

The basket in the middle of the blanket contained a mountain of food, which an eager Tanith keeps peeking at from under the lid.

"Val? Can we eat now?" She blinked hopefully at her.

"Tan, we've just got here!"

"I know, but I'm hungry!"

Valkyrie rolled her eyes and looked around. There was a woods to the left of them, and a river far down the field.

"We.. We could play a game." She said slowly, still peering about.

Tanith gave everyone a heart attack as she leapt up, grinning. "Tag?"

"Hell no- you lot have such an advantage, and Fletcher just teleports everywhere!"

Skulduggery tilted his head to a side. "Well, do you not see yourself as someone who'd be able to outrun Ghastly or Tanith?"

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow.

"Fair enough." He nodded.

"I was thinking more on the lines of.. Hide and seek."

Ghastly's eyes, previously shut as he tried to ignore them, opened suddenly and he stood up. "Sorry but, I'm not playing hide and seek with the three most competitive people ever and a teleporter."

Tanith's face fell as she saw Ghastly make his way back to the van.

"Oh, Fletcher? Come with me, please. I have something I want to talk to you about."

Fletcher grumbled something inaudible and stood up. Then he disappeared, and appeared next to Ghastly. They made their way across the field and back to the van.

"Well.. Leaves just us- Skulduggery Pleasant! Turn around and come back here, -now-." Valkyrie growled as she spotted Skulduggery doing his best to creep away from them.

He froze and turned around slowly. "But you don't need me playing that silly game.." he said- if he had a face and eyes, he'd be doing his best 'You know I'm right' face.

Val rolled her eyes and sighed. "It's boring with just two people- you can count to a hundred, and me and Tanith will go and hide!"

Tanith almost squealed with delight and she bounded off towards the forest. "I'll go hide now! NO LOOKING SKUL!"

And she was out of sight in a matter of seconds. Val shrugged. "Right, you heard her. You start counting."

Skulduggery let out a deep sigh and turned around, covering his eye sockets with his bony hands. "One.. Two.." he began.

Val grinned and headed off towards the river, starting to feel excited.

She eventually reached the river, and walked along the edge- the water occasionally splashing up and covering her feet. The currents were fast today.

She walked on, the thought of what Ghastly could be talking to Fletcher about ticking at the back of her mind.

It must be something important if they had to leave to discuss it.

_I wonder what it could be.. _she thought, quickly irritated.

She hates not knowing things sometimes. Especially when it meant that Fletcher knew something she didn't, and he always looked for a chance to seem smarter than her. Which was impossible either way, secret chats with Ghastly or not. Skulduggery told her every day that she's wiser beyond her years- Fletcher certainly was _not _wise.

She came out of her world just as she came across a wooded, fenced off area. No signs were on the fence, fending off curious teens and kids. She held on to the wires and looked in to the area- it looked normal.

Curiosity getting the better of her, she dragged one leg over the top, and was soon on the other side on the ground, standing in tall, weedy grass.

Brushing herself off, she turned and began to wander inside the woods. Skulduggery sure was going to have a hard time looking for her now. She grinned.

A little while later, as she was following a soon disappearing path, she spotted a small, cave-like over slope of rock.

She hacked her way through the thorns and weeds, and she finally came up to the entrance. It really was a cave. Sure went deep.

Deciding she had nothing better to do, she ventured in to the cave.

And she instantly regretted it.

It was dark, cold, and damp. But she went in further, as if something was drawing her in. Or it could be that she was insane and enjoyed being scared.

The latter seemed more likely.

As she went deeper in to the cave, she swore she could hear the flapping of wings. Something really smelt bad, and it got stronger as she went along.

She could see a faint light, not far from where she's standing. Letting out a breath of mixed feelings, she approached it.

She rounded a corner and gasped.

Right in front of her was a glowing, luminous cavern. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, water dripping from them. The whole place looked so.. unnatural, but beautiful.

Seeing that she had no way of going down to the cavern, she sat down cross-legged and gazed around in awe at the sight.

Seemingly in a trance, she stayed there for what seemed like decades. Her legs ached, and were going numb from being in that position for quite a while, but she ignored it.

_With Skulduggery.._

He'd been wandering around for a good hour now, and still no sign of her. Man, she was good at this.

He signed and put his hands in his pockets as he strolled along the river. He should give up soon- she was most likely trying to fool him, and was actually back with Tanith.

He'd found Tanith almost instantly, up a tree. If there was anything Tanith was exceptionally good at, it was martial arts and climbing trees.

While he was pondering why Tanith seemed to hide in the most obvious places, he almost walked right in to a wired fence.

"What the.."

He stared curiously at the fence, and then at the woods behind them.

If he had eyes, they would surely be as wide as they could get.

"No.." he muttered. Glancing about, he quickly climbed over the fence and swiftly made his way through the shrubbery, knowing for certain that this would have caught Valkyrie's attention and curiosity. He knew where she'd be- but he was screaming in his head that she wasn't.

She'd be in the caves of Súil Bréagach.

_Inside the caves.._

Valkyrie had started to hum a happy tune as she rocked backwards an forwards, still gazing up at the ceiling.

She felt so happy, for some reason. She felt like nothing was going to bother her. It was nice, for once, to feel completely safe.

The thought of Skulduggery flashed across her mind when she thought of 'safe'. She stopped humming and frowned.

Skulduggery. He was looking for her, wasn't he? They were playing hide and seek. A child's game.

Her frown deepened and she crunched her fists. She didn't want him to find her- she was happy here. She felt more safe here than she did with him.

She looked back up at the ceiling and grinned stupidly. She felt that feeling of happiness wash over her again and she uncurled her hands. She was okay- as long as she stayed here.

_"Valkyrie..?"_

Her head snapped round and she hissed. He was here?

She could hear his faint footsteps from inside, behind her. She stood up and clenched her fists again. He was intruding her space, her cave- her hope of safety.

He appeared at the entrance to the cavern, and she hissed again, her fists up in a defensive stance.

He put his hands up in caution. "Val.."

"Shut up! Don't even say anything! Get out of my cave!"

He went silent for a moment. All that could be heard was her ragged breaths.

"Valkyrie. Don't talk to me like that- this isn't your cave. This isn't you. You see that glimmer? That shine? It's all a trick. You're not safe here. You're safe with me."

Valkyrie frowned, shaking her head. "No. I'm safe here- no more monsters, no bad guys, no Faceless Ones."

"Val.. There are bad guys everywhere." He held out a hand to her, and she shrank away from it as if it was poisoned.

"Don't touch me."

"Valkyrie Cain. Do you honestly think that you'd be alive today if you were not safe with me? With your friends?" Skulduggery let out a sigh and he stepped closer to her- he expected the punch that came his way, and he caught her arm in a firm but gentle grip. She tried to tear away from him, but he just pulled her close and wrapped his other arm around her in a tight embrace.

She growled in to his chest and bit at his tie, but she didn't try to get free anymore.

"Stop ruining a perfectly good tie." he said, scolding her.

She looked up at her, and then her eyes glazed over suddenly. She would have fallen had he not been holding her. Scooping her up, he carried her out of the cavern, glaring at the stalactites one more time before leaving.

( . ; )

Tanith was polishing her beloved motorcycle when they returned. Valkyrie had that not-quite-with-it look on her face, and Skulduggery looked.. like a skeleton, as he supported Valkyrie over to her.

"Uhh.. Did I miss something?" Tanith asked, completely confused.

Skulduggery shook his head and sat Valkyrie down on the ground. "She found a certain cave." was all he said.

Tanith nodded, knowingly and went back to polishing her ride.

After about ten minutes, Valkyrie slowly stood up. Skulduggery looked over at her and coughed. "You okay, Val?"

She looked at him, opened her mouth to say something, then shut it again, shaking her head.

_I must be on drugs.. _she thought.

**ooOoo**

**Ha ha, well! That was quite a long chapter- I apologize!**

**But hey, makes up for the week without one, ya? Ya? K.**

**(The Cat Returns 2 chapter will be uploaded tomorrow. ;) )**

**- Shanieee**


	15. Mother's Day (C15)

**Chapter 15 – Mother's Day**

**Hey, here's the next chapter!**

**Also, its Mother's Day!**

**This chapter will be dedicated to mums, so I hope you enjoy :)!**

**\(^o^)\**

**ooOoo**

Valkyrie glared at Skulduggery.

"What?" He asked her.

She continued glaring.

"Seriously," he mumbled. "It was all Ghastly. Not me."

She raised an eyebrow. Man, she should punch him.

"You're telling me that Ghastly was the one who set fire to my card?"

Skulduggery looked at her for moment, then at the pile of ashes on the counter, and nodded.

"Yup."

"Ugh!" Valkyrie threw her arms up in to the air. "Have you -any- idea how long that took me to make?!"

If Skulduggery had eyebrows, they'd be raised rather high.

"It was a picture, coloured in with pen. Would have taken you ten minutes."

"Ten minutes- Skulduggery, it took me an -hour-! It was possibly the best piece of art I'd ever done, and now its a pile of ashes!"

"If it helps, its a rather pretty pile of ashes."

Valkyrie went silent and stared after him. After a moment, without taking her eyes off of him, she scattered the ashes with her hand, on to the floor.

Skulduggery looked down at the mess.

"Well that was completely unnecessary."

Valkyrie let out a low hiss and spun away from him. "God, you're infuriating, Skulduggery." She stomped out of the kitchen and in to the living room. She sat down at a table where a pack of pens and sheets of paper were set out on it.

"Now I have to spend a whole other hour trying to make it as amazing and brilliant as that one- and then you're going to have to drive super fast and drop me off at my house. And if I'm even one second late, I'm going to get a mallet, and break each of your bones, one by one."

Skulduggery, who had been watching her, cocked his head to the side slighlty.

"Charming. You won't be late. When are we ever late for anything?"

Valkyrie scoffed. "Like, all the time."

"Ah, yes, well.. Some things are just inevitable."

Her head snapped towards him. "Me being late is not going to happen today, Skulduggery. Of all days, please don't make me be late on Mother's Day."

Skulduggery wandered over to her and sat next to her. "Of course not. I wouldn't make you late to see your mother- especially when she'll be leaving this evening." She smiled gratefully at him and continued her drawing.

"But.."

She paused.

"The card incident was actually Ghastly."

She flung a pen right at his face.

**\(^o^)/**

An hour and a half later, Valkyrie is sitting in her living room across from her mum, with the biggest grin on her face possible.

"Happy Mother's Day, mum." She said, looking down expectantly at the card her mother held in her hands.

"Oh, Steph, thank you." Her mum said, smiling as she opened the card. She went silent as she looked at what Valkyrie had drawn, and then burst in to laughter.

Valkyrie frowned and took the card from her to check it. What was she laughing at?

"O-ooh Steph! That's.. That's so good!" Her mum laughed continuously, holding her sides. She couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

Valkyrie had drawn herself, her mum, and her dad with their arms around each other. She thought it was pretty good, all things considered.

Then she looked at the way she had drawn her dad's nose.

A few seconds later, she was on the floor laughing with her mother. She had drawn it so retardedly, it looked like someone had placed a fish on his face.

When her father himself looked at the card, he was taken aback and highly insulted. He wouldn't stop looking in the mirror and checking on his nose, in case someone did actually put a fish there. His expression just made Valkyrie and her mum laugh impossibly more.

"Steph, I never knew you'd be so harsh." Her dad mumbled grumpily.

Valkyrie staggered to her feet and hugged her dad. "I'm sorry- I didn't mean to draw you with a fish face." She sniggered, her mum snorting in the background.

"Right, sure you didn't."

"I'm serious dad- but even so, I think its an improvement."

Her dad took her by the shoulders and drove her towards her mother. Leaving her there, he stomped up the stairs.

"Hurry up and finish packing for the trip." He called down to them.

Valkyrie immediately sobered and turned to her mum.

"So, you're leaving soon?"

"Yes," her mum said, smiling softly. "But remember, its only for a week or so. And I'll always email, text and call you. I'll even be old fashioned and send you a letter or a postcard."

Valkyrie nodded and hugged her mum. Mums shouldn't leave on Mother's Day- they should spend the day letting their family shower them with their appreciation, love and gifts for being the amazing thing that is their mum.

Whenever Valkyrie tried to imagine what her life would be like without her mum, she just couldn't see herself being the person she was today.

She wouldn't be confident without the support and advice from her- her dad was there for her, yes, and he's wonderful too, but sometimes she just needs a girl to girl talk. Someone who understands what they're going through and the best way to chug on through it.

She loved her mum, and the thought of her being hurt or being in danger brought protective tears to her eyes.

"I love you, mum." She said. Her mum hugged her tighter and smiled in to her shoulder.

"I know, honey."

**/(^o^)/**

Later that day, after she'd seen her mum off at the airport, she was at Skulduggery's house with Ghastly and Skulduggery. Tanith was in London for a short time.

Valkyrie was in the living room watching TV, whilst Skulduggery was talking to Ghastly as quietly as he could in the kitchen.

"You what?" Ghastly asked him, his jaw dropping.

"I told her it was you." Skulduggery said. He knew that Valkyrie knew it was him, but it felt good to say it was someone else.

"Skulduggery, why did you tell her it was me?" Ghastly asked through clenched teeth.

"If you were there, standing next to a pile of ashes that was once something that Valkyrie made, and saw the murderous look on her face, you would have done the same." He said, glancing at Valkyrie, making sure she hadn't heard.

"So you blamed it on me?!" Ghastly said, exasperated.

"Uh, yeah. And it would mean a lot to me if you played along, too."

Valkyrie chose this moment to stand up and walk in to the kitchen. As soon as she stepped in to the kitchen, Ghastly said;

"It wasn't me, it was Skulduggery."

Fingers clicked.

Flames blazed.

Skulduggery gulped with his non-existent throat.

**ooOoo**

**/(^o^)\**

**Well, there you go!**

**Hope you liked it!**

**Please review.**

**Ciao! ^_^**


	16. Apologies!

**Apologies!**

**Hi there, readers! Me and Shan apologise deeply for not updating in what.. four weeks? Probably more.**

**We've been a bit caught up lately with everything, and we're working on the next chapter as you read this! Or, well, as soon as I publish this :)**

**We've been stumped on how to write these chapters out so we decided to take a small break from it. And well, it's time we came back :D**

**Gosh, I'm making it sound like it's been months! But yeah, we're back with weekly chapters. The next one will be out tomorrow.**

**P.S Easter tomorrow :D We'll make it an Easter chapter, then get back to the real stuff. Though, I s'pose nothing is real with this seeing as it's fanfiction, but whatever! x'3**

**Also, TCR2 chapters will be uploaded around the same times as the VD fanfic.**

**So yeah, hope you guys have set up Easter hunts for tomorrow :D I know I have.**

**Oh Jess, you're so childish! Yes. Yes I am.**

**I've actually sat down and put together a load of Easter eggs with treats inside. Fun.**

**Well, I know we're not supposed to make chapters devoted to author's notes, so I guess I'll have to write a tiny, short little VD thing? Okily-dokily!**

**ooOoo**

"Hey Skul?"

Valkyrie from the kitchen, her expression dangerously calm. Skulduggery glanced up at her from the doorway.

"Hey Val."

Valkyrie drummed her fingers on the counter, her head tilted to a side.

"What have you done with my egg cases?"

Skulduggery looked behind her and at the piles of multicoloured eggs. He shrugged his shoulders oh so elegantly.

"..I haven't touched your egg cases."

Valkyrie rolled her eyes and motioned towards his arms.

"Then what're you holding behind your back?"

"..My egg cases?"

She closed her eyes briefly and took in a deep breath. She let it out slowly and shook her head.

"Skulduggery, can I have my egg cases back please?"

"Let me just go get them.."

"Skulduggery Pleasant. Hand the cases over to me."

Skulduggery hesitated a moment and then stepped cautiously closer to her. He took the egg cases from behind his back and held them out. Valkyrie took them calmly from him and let out another sigh.

"What were you going to do with these cases anyway?"

Skulduggery raised his shoulders and turned, not replying to her.

Valkyrie stared after him, shaking her head in disbelief.

**ooOoo**

**Well, there you go! :D**

**Have fun making Easter stuff!**

**Ciao! \(^o^)/**


	17. Egg Hunt? (C16)

**Chapter 16 – Egg Hunt?**

**Hey! HAPPY EA- wait, no, that was like.. 5 days ago.**

**This chappy's gonna be an Easter one, despite the fact that its late.**

**DO NOT COMPLAIN! :3 jaykay, jaykay.**

**Anyhoo, here y'all go!**

**ooOoo**

"Hurry up- and DON'T drop those dammed eggs!"

Skulduggery let out a sigh as he hoisted the box full of eggs up in to his arms.

"Why can't you carry them?"

Tanith looked over her shoulder and at him. "-Because-, Skulduggery, I am the map holder. How would we know where to hide them if I was carrying the eggs?"

".. I could hold the ma-"

Tanith raised a silencing hand. "No, Skul. No you couldn't. Don't ever suggest that again."

Skulduggery lowered his head and trudged on after Tanith, carrying the box of eggs.

/\

Valkyrie stretches out her arms and let out a rather unladylike yawn.

She got up from bed and got dressed before wandering downstairs for breakfast.

Because her parents were out of town, she had the entire house to herself.

After she filled her tummy with cornflakes and toast, she got out her phone.

"No messages.. Huh." She muttered to herself as she went out the front door. "Strange, they usually tell me to come over. And its Easter!"

She came to a stop at the gate and looked down. There, in the middle of the path, was a miniature cadbury's chocolate egg.

She narrowed her eyes and glanced about as she bent down to inspect it. She lowered her head and sniffed the area around the egg, then the egg itself.

Deciding it wasn't poisoned, or a trap, she picked it up, unwrapped it and popped it in to her mouth.

She stood up, nomming happily on the egg, and continued down the path. Ten seconds later, she came across another egg. Her gaze wandered down the path to find a whole trail of eggs.

Valkyrie narrowed her eyes once again and began picking them up as she goes, either stuffing them in her mouth or in her pocket.

After ages of walking, picking up egg, eating it, walking, picking up an egg, eating it, etc, she was lead by the never ending trail to Skulduggery's house.

She stopped outside the door and stuffed another egg inside her mouth before going inside.

It looked empty to her as she wandered in to the living room, then she heard a crash from the kitchen and immediately went in to ninja-stance.

Cautiously making her way towards the kitchen, she could her a familiar voice cursing at whatever was broken.

She prepared to kick the door open when someone from behind her grabbed her by her shoulders.

"Hey, get of-"

"Sh, Val. Its me."

Fletcher grinned at her as she turned her head to glare at him.

"Why are you holding me?"

"Can I not do that anymore?"

"You've never been aloud to do that."

"Hey, but Skul ain't around.."

Valkyrie tried to step away from him, but he just chuckled and turned her around. "I'm not gonna do anything, Val."

**(A/N - I think we're starting to make Fletcher out as a bad guy! D: oh well.)**

She scowled slightly. "I know that!"

Fletcher took a step closer to her, forcing her backwards a little. "Then why do you keep looking and talking to me like that?"

Valkyrie glanced behind her as she was pinned to the wall. She looked back at Fletcher and rolled her eyes. "Fletcher, -this- is exactly why I look and talk to you like I do."

Fletcher's lips lifted in to a smirk. "I just can keep my han-"

"HIIIIYYAAAAHH!"

Tanith, out of no where, came charging in to Fletcher and tackled him to the ground. Valkyrie jumped away from them and grinned as Tanith got Fletcher in to a head lock.

"No. Perving. Val. When. We're. Away!"

Fletcher groaned as she pounded his head with her fist at each word.

"Ah, Fletcher tried one again, Val?"

Skulduggery walked up next to Valkyrie, soon followed by Ghastly.

"Heh, yeah. Though Tanith's always here to save me!" Valkyrie laughed.

Skulduggery turned to her. "Val, we've set up an Easter Egg hunt."

Val's eyes widened and she grabbed his arm. "An Egg hunt?!"

Tanith let go of Fletch and bounced on to her feet. "Yeah! We gotta go find the eggs!"

"And who ever gets the most gets to wear the chocolate crown." Ghastly added with a grin.

".. A chocolate crown? Oh my, I'm so winning." Valkyrie said, her game-face set. "Let's go!"

They all went outside and to the huge field behind Skul's house. They found the starting point, dished out the baskets and set off.

"Hold on a second- wasn't Tanith the one who hid the eggs?" Ghastly asked after the Val and Tanith had left. Fletcher was still moping about with an ice pack on his head.

Skulduggery raised his shoulders. "Yeah, but you go stop her. I'm not taking that risk."

Ghastly shook his head slowly. "I feel sorry for Val."

\/

A while later, they all meet back up at Skul's house with their baskets.

Valkyrie's basket was filled to the brim with eggs. She was rather chuffed with her gathering skills. She waltzed in to the living room, about to brag about her basket, when she froze, staring at the sofa.

Tanith lay there, lazily swinging her full basket, while another bag full of eggs lay at her feet.

"No way- she cheated!" Valkyrie exclaimed, pointing her finger at Tanith.

Skulduggery and Ghastly cringed away from them.

Tanith sat up. "No I didn't! I got these fair and square."

"Well.. You -did- hide them, Tanith.."

"Shut up, Skul. That doesn't count."

Valkyrie's jaw literally dropped and her face was set with a scowl.

"Tanith, you big cheat!"

Tanith winked at her and wandered over to the chocolate crown, and placed it on her head.

"I got the most eggs, therefore I win! I am the Egg Queen!"

She spun around, grinning. She came up to Valkyrie and stuck her tongue out.

"Why you.." Valkyrie muttered, and snatched the crown from Tanith's head. Tanith gasped and tried to grab for it, but Val brought the crown up to her mouth and took a huge bite out of it.

Then there was silence.

Ghastly and Skulduggery edged ever so slowly towards the kitchen as steam literally came from Tanith's ears.

Then, suddenly-

"OH NO YOU DIDN'T!"

And Tanith was on Valkyrie. There was screaming, biting, scratching and all round viciousness as they both fought for the bitten chocolate crown.

Ghastly did his best not to laugh at the scene, though was soon laughing away at them. Fletcher, though, was petrified of even being in the same house as them. He always ends up hurt in these situations.

Skulduggery just stepped back and, if he had a face, his eyebrows would be soaring through the sky.

This won't end well.

**ooOoo**

**Well, there you go! :D**

**But like I said, we're back now, so expect weekly updates! :D**

**Please review! We miss them!**

**-Shanieee**


	18. China Sorrows (C17)

**Chapter 17 – China Sorrows**

**Heeeeyyy!**

**How you guys doooin'?**

**No, I'm not on drugs- that's very rude. O_o**

**Writer's Block has struck, once again! Will our heroes be able to save the author this time? Find out next episo-...**

**Yeah guys I'm sorry :c its certainly been longer than a week since we last updated. And I've certainly got no excuse. I myself -hate- it when people don't upload on time, but that doesn't seem to apply to me in my head, apparently! But its okay, I've went to a psychiatrist and he's given me tablets..!**

**... :D**

**Not really, that's ridiculous. But here's the next chapter. We love you guys and-**

**Thank you for being patient with us!**

**ooOoo**

Valkyrie was drenched to the bone, and freezing half to death as she stood at the pier.

"How long does that skeleton take?" She hissed through clenched teeth.

As if on cue, a black Bentley roared up the hill and parked near her. The passenger door open and Valkyrie jumped in.

"About bloody time." She said.

"Language." the elegant skeleton in the well-tailored suit said.

Valkyrie rolled her eyes and grabbed a chunk of her hair. She squeezed it and watched the water drip from it.

"Hey, watch it- priceless car." Skulduggery said, annoyance clear in his voice as he reached in to the back and pulled out a towel.

Taking the towel from him, Val shrugged and began to dry her hair.

They drove for at least half an hour through town and down streets that were new to Valkyrie- they also didn't look very welcoming in the slightest.

"Uhm.. Skulduggery?"

"Yes, Valkyrie?"

"Where exactly are we going, again?"

Skulduggery turned his head towards her slightly, "We're going to go and meet one China Sorrows."

Valkyrie nodded slowly. "And.. She is?"

"She's a librarian. But not exactly a trustworthy one."

Skulduggery parked the Bentley outside a tall, ugly looking building. Valkyrie got out of the car and sighed, "And why are we going to her if she is not to be trusted?"

"Because we need information that only she has."

Valkyrie stared at him incredulously.

As he locked up the Bentley, he tilted his head to one side, staring back.

"What?" He inquired.

"Sometimes, your logic fails me."

He merely shrugged and made his way to the one door of the building.

The inside of the building was just as ugly as the outside- grey, dreary, and damp. There were stone steps going down another level, and the one they were at opened up in to a large, indoors car-park.

"Isn't this place just a ray of sunshine?" Valkyrie muttered under her breath as they took to the stairs going up.

"There are two things that I must warn you about her- the first impression she has on people is always.. overwhelming. I suggest you remind yourself that whatever you are feeling is false. Also, as I've already mentioned, she is untrustworthy. Do not let her bribe you in to doing anything. And the reason we are going to her the now is because she is neutral- she's neither on the good side nor the bad side."

As he finished, Valkyrie frowned, holding up three fingers. "That was three things."

He tilted his head again. "So it was. My mistake."

"Oh wow," Valkyrie mock-gasped. "It seems you're already making mistakes on this case."

"I never make mistakes, Valkyrie. I am for ever immaculate."

She rolled her eyes and remained silent as they climbed the stairs.

A few minutes passed, and Valkyrie's legs were beginning to tire. She stopped for a moment, bent over slightly. "God, I envy your lack of muscles right now."

"If I didn't understand what you meant, I'd be insulted." Skulduggery replied, looking over his shoulder at her.

"How many more steps to go?" She asked, a pained expression on her face.

Skul looked at the steps and paused, as if calculating in some odd way. "Not long. Would you like a hand?" He held out a bony hand to her and gestured for her to take it.

Letting out a sigh, Valkyrie grabbed his hand and let him haul her up a few steps. "Alright then- but don't tell Fletcher I can't climb these stairs without collapsing."

If he had lips, Skulduggery would have smirked. "I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing- he would tease you about being weak for.. Weeks on end." That velvety voice, added with a hint of mockery was enough to make her scowl.

"You'd just love tha- hey! Watch it." She said as he almost made her trip up a few stairs.

He sighed audibly, and wrapped a thin arm around her wait, and placed her arm over his shoulders. Seeing as he was considerably taller than her, when he stood up straight, he lifted her off her feet slightly. Valkyrie blinked in surprise and opened her mouth to protest, when he scooped her legs up with his other arm and sighed again.

"Its quicker this way." Was all he said.

And to be honest, it was. Before she knew it, he was putting her down again and brushing off his new suit outside a blue mahogany door.

She kept her expression blank as he shrugged at her, before knocking on the door.

They were greeted by a tall, pale man in a black suit. He nodded once to Skulduggery and stood aside to let him in.

Valkyrie followed close behind him, staring at the high book shelves that they passed. They eventually came to a small sitting area, where a make-shift office with no windows sat.

The door to that office opened smoothly and Valkyrie's jaw almost dropped as she saw the most elegant woman walk out.

She had golden, long locks of hair that sat over her shoulders perfectly. She was dressed in a knee-length, dark purple skirt accompanied by a light blue blouse. Her heels were impossibly high and a matching colour to the blouse.

The woman smiled angelically at Skulduggery as she saw them enter, and when her gaze shifted to Valkyrie, her smile widened.

A sudden flow of love for the woman entered Valkyrie and her knees went weak- threatening to give way at any point.

Skulduggery glanced at Valkyrie, and then sent a stone cold stare towards the woman.

"China. Stop it."

The woman tilted her head to a side, almost mimicking Skulduggery. "Stop what, my dear?"

"Stop it."

At the second time, China's smile faltered and tore her gaze away from Valkyrie.

Val felt a slight release from the flow, but not completely.

"Remember, Valkyrie. What you are feeling is false." Skulduggery told her, a hand on her arm to keep her from falling.

All she could do was not, and stare at China as she went to sit down.

"Care for a cup of tea?" She asked. Skulduggery pulled Valkyrie gently over to a seat and sat down next to her.

"Now.." China said, sipping from her cup. "What is it you came to visit me for?"

"I have a feeling you already know." He said, leaning back in his chair, glancing at Valkyrie from time to time.

"You want to know about the mysterious man named Batu."

How on earth did she know that? Valkyrie thought. She glanced at Skulduggery, but he merely shrugged.

"There is no story or piece of information that does not reach my ears, my dear girl." China smiled at her again, and Valkyrie shuddered ever so slightly.

"China, this is the last time I'm going to tell you: stop it." Skulduggery said, his tone a little defensive. His hold on Valkyrie's arm remained, and tightened a little.

China raised her elegant shoulders, a smirk playing at her perfect lips. "I do nothing, Skulduggery."

"Valkyrie," he said, ignoring China. "The feeling will soon go away."

"Ah," China smiled. "But it never really does go away, does it, Skulduggery?"

Skulduggery was silent for a moment, before he shrugged.

"So, do you have the information we need?" He asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do." China's expression went serious as she placed her cup on a saucer. "Batu is the notorious leader of the group named the Diablerie."

Skulduggery nodded slightly. "I suspected as much."

"As to why he would be killing all of these teleporters, I only have one suggestion- the ones that have evidently been killed did not co-operate with whatever they're planning."

"What they're planning doesn't happen to have anything to do with the Faceless Ones, does it?" Valkyrie managed to say. She still felt tingly but at least she could talk.

"It could, or it couldn't. But it most likely is." China said with a gentle shrug. "The Diablerie are worshippers of the Faceless Ones, so it wouldn't come to me as a shock if they were after a way of bringing them back."

"And I assume they already know -how- to, thanks to Batu." Valkyrie said, leaning forwards in her seat. She turned her head to Skulduggery and sighed, "I suppose the only way we would have been able to find out how to bring them back is if we asked the dead man, right?"

"Right." Skulduggery said slowly.

"But he's dead."

"Yes I know."

"And I mean dead-dead. He isn't coming back."

"Valkyrie, I'm pretty clear on that."

China laughed mirthfully. "Oh dear. You two are fun to watch. But I happen to have what you're looking for."

She stood up and motioned for them to follow her as she placed a hand on the office door. A circle of sigils began to glow and the door swung open for them. Valkyrie and Skulduggery got to their feet and followed her in, "Skulduggery? What is she? An Elemental?"

He shook his head slightly as China gestured to the seats before disappearing through another door. "She, as you can quite clearly see, works with sigils. Its a difficult type of magic."

"Oh," Val said, leaning back in to a plush, periwinkle chair. China entered the office room moments later and sat across from them, holding a large, wooden-like book.

She set it on the glass table in front of her chair and began to flick through the pages. The letters on the pages were of a different language, but that didn't seem to phase China as her eyes scanned over each page.

"Ah," she said, stopping half way through the book. "Here we are-" she began to recite the theory of opening the gates between their world and the Faceless Ones'. It consisted of acquiring an Isthmus Anchor and a teleporter.

Valkyrie listened intently, unable to keep her eyes from China's perfect face. Skulduggery straightened his shoulders as he watched her stare at China, a non-existent eyebrow raised. He wondered how long it would be before the effect she had made would ware off on Valkyrie. It was hard for anyone under the influence of China's fake love to notice anyone in the room. But, he was a patient skeleton.

"So, all we have to do is get the anchor before they do?" Valkyrie said, glancing at him slightly.

"Yes, but it won't be that easy. For starters, we don't know what the anchor is. But on the up-side, we already have the last teleporter handy. We just need to keep him out of their reach."

An evil glint appeared in Valkyrie's eye as many ways of restraining Fletcher flew across her mind.

"Oh I know just how we can do that."

Skulduggery truly felt sorry for the poor kid.

**ooOoo**

**:3!**

**Hope you guys enjoyed that, and because you've been so patient with us lately, Shan might - and big emphasise on MIGHT there - be able to put her chapter up the same day, or tomorrow. So that's two chapters for you in one week :D**

**Seriously though, I'll get my back in to gear and I'll work harder to get these chapters up.**

**Love ya'll!**

**Ciaoo!**


	19. Awkward! (C18)

**Chapter 18 – Awkward!**

**Haaiioooo people! Been a while since I (Shan) uploaded, huh? Well, no worries, there's no need to wait any longer! Here's the 'love' chapter you might have been waiting for (or not, y'know.. That is a.. Possibility too)! Anyway, enjoy reading it.**  
**~Shaniee**

**ooOoo**

Sunday morning.

Really early morning for a Sunday.

Really early meaning, seven in the morning early.

Guess who are up?

Tanith and Valkyrie.

Skulduggery sat on the sofa of his living room. He'd been up all night, as usual- skeletons don't sleep. Instead, he'd been peacefully meditating.

Until THEY got up.

Down the stairs they came, trying their very best to be quiet, when infact they sounded like two giggling rhinoceros. Immediately disturbing his meditation, the girls half tiptoed half fell in to the kitchen and started to make breakfast.

All Skulduggery could do was pretend that he hadn't been interrupted, and watch them.

It was interesting, really. It was like watching two wild animals make themselves at home in unknown territory. If he made but a single sound, they'd both freeze, wait for a while, and then go back to whatever they were doing.

It appeared that they had chosen to have cornflakes for breakfast as the bowls clattered about and boxes were ripped open.

Skulduggery raised one bony hand to his forehead and mentally sighed. Ghastly and Fletcher had stayed the night as well, and were fast asleep. Thank fully, the two girls had gone straight to sleep last night, seeing as the current case was requiring a lot of their energy and time.

They sat down at the table, munching away on their breakfast, and began talking to each other.

It was just casual chit-chat like, "Do you think we woke the others" and "That cornflake looks like a butt", and of course the occasional giggle. But then they got on to another subject and their voices dropped a considerable amount- enough to pique Skulduggery's interest.

Its one of those situations where you have a really nosey person trying to listen in on someone's conversations from afar. As usual, its impossible when they are whispering.

So, what to do? Why, creep closer, of course!

With as much skill as a skeleton who has been through years of war, and general sneaking about, he flattened himself on to the floor and began to shuffle forwards.

The space between the kitchen door and the living room door was not much. A meter, if not smaller. He had to pause every now and again when the girls stopped talking to munch on their cereal.

Soon enough, he was right underneath the wooden chair than Valkyrie was sitting on- half of his chest and below sticking out noticeably.

".. Oh god no, I wouldn't say that. What was it- ah, elegance. That's what he calls it," He heard Valkyrie whisper.

"Mmhm," Tanith said through a mouthful of cornflakes. "And have you seen the ties he wears? God, he looks like a diabetic clown!"

That comment rewarded a laugh from Valkyrie. Tanith shushed her, reminding her to be quiet, though she was trying her best not to laugh as well.

"He has no idea how ridiculous he looks on a daily basis, does he? Oh Skul.." Valkyrie shook her head slowly, one foot hooked over the other.

They were talking about -him-?!

Skulduggery felt like biting Valkyrie's ankle and growling. But he didn't. He wouldn't lose his composure over such a childish thing.

Thinking that, though, he still glanced down at his latest tie- it was a modest light blue, with a matching, if not darker, blue suit. It didn't look clown-like. To him, at least.

Deciding he'd heard enough, he began to shuffle backwards with enough _elegance _possible.

Once his head was clear from under the chair, he stood up, brushing off his suit. If he had lips, they'd be set in a scowl.

"You girls are so nice." He mumbled almost inaudibly.

Valkyrie spun around on her chair, her smile fading. She put on her best shocked face and said: "Oh! You heard us?!"

Skulduggery rolled his non-existent eyes and turned away, heading towards the door.

He was about to leave when two arms encircled him, and trapped him in a tight hug. "We were only kidding, of course! You need to brush up on your ninja skills."

He remained silent for a while, his mind going a little crazy as he realised that it was Valkyrie that was hugging him.

As he turned around slowly so that he wouldn't make her let go, he was met with the biggest puppy eyes he had ever seen in his many years of life.

"Stop that- that's unfair," he said, almost choking.

Valkyrie grinned cheekily at him and opened her mouth to say something smart, when Skulduggery began to tickle her sides, making her fly backwards and on to her back on the ground, in a fit of laughter.

Skulduggery followed her to the floor, tickling her continuously until she was gasping for breath. To prevent himself from being kicked, he sat firmly on her legs.

"S-Skulduggery! Stop!" Valkyrie gasped through laughter.

Almost immediately, Skulduggery withdrew and sat upright, still on his legs.

"A-alright, your ninja skills are okay." Valkyrie said, grinning as she sat up on her elbows. Her face was flushed from an intense tickling session. Tanith had left the room at some point during it to make sure they hadn't woken anyone else up.

Skulduggery tilted his head to a side and shrugged _elegantly_. "You should know by now that I think highly of myself no matter what people think- its what makes me so wonderful. You should learn from me."

Valkyrie made and face and sat bolt-upright in protest.

Wasn't a good idea.

Before she could stop herself, her face collided with Skulduggery's- or, rather, her -lips- collided with the area his lips were meant to be.

They both froze for a moment. Did that -seriously- just happen?

Really?

Valkyrie's eyes were open wide as she slowly sank back down on to the floor, her hands covering her face.

Skulduggery coughed awkwardly and got off of her. "Aghem. Well, I'll go check on the.. Others."

He brushed off his suit and left the kitchen, leaving Valkyrie so lie on the floor muttering, "Oh my god" over and over to herself.

"Hey, I just passed Skul-" Tanith waltzed in to the kitchen, but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Valkyrie on the floor. "Uuhm, Val?"

Valkyrie kept muttering to herself as Tanith approached her with caution. Then something clicked in Tanith's crazy little head and she began to panic.

"Oh! She's having a seizure! Oh my god! What do I do?! Someone tell me what to do!" She flailed her arms about uselessly, her eyes shut tight.

"Shut up, Tanith!" Valkyrie said, pulling her down on to the floor next to her. "The most embarrassing thing -ever- just happened to me.."

And she went on to tell Tanith the story about hers and Skulduggery's first, accidental, kiss.

Tanith was rolling around on the floor laughing (Rowfeyull. :D) by the end of the story, and Valkyrie had a rather grumpy expression on her face. "Tanith! Its -not- funny!"

"Ohh-hoo, yes it is, Val! Oh dear.." Tanith snickered, wiping away tears.

"Will you two.. SHUT UP!"

They both jumped as a rather disgruntled Fletcher appeared in the doorway, his pillow under his arm.

"Go back to bed, spoilsport." Tanith scowled.

"Make me!" Fletcher said, sticking out his chest in an attempt at manliness.

Tanith leapt to her feet and began to prowl towards him- all trace of the man he wanted to be left Fletcher in an instant and he screamed and ran upstairs with Tanith hot on his tail.

**ooOoo**

**O'rly, did you like it? Ohh, you -didn't-? My bad, well, if so.. Please give me some more ideas for the next chapter- it would help a lot.**

**Even if you DID like it, and have ideas, please tell me. Just leave a review, and I might use your idea for my next chapter (and compliments are always welcome too)!**

**Next chapter will be done by the awesome NuggetBoss: Jess! Good luck.**

**~Shaniee**


	20. The Diablerie (C19)

**Hey.**

**I tried to convince Shan in to doing another chapter so I could finish up my TCR2 one- but noooo, I -have- do to it-**

**Jk, love you Shan!**

**Anyhoo.. Here ya'll go!**

**ooOoo**

Tanith stifled a yawn as she leant back in the old wooden chair.

She could hear the muffled snores from the inhabitant of the room next to her. It was one of those drilling snores, that sounded like a motorbike engine as it roars past. It was also highly irritating.

The man she was guarding turned out to be a Teleporter aswell, so Fletcher was not alone- which he had been thrilled to hear, after being tied to a radiator by Valkyrie, who had insisted that it was the best way to keep him safe. She changed her mind after a heat rash appeared around his hands.

The Teleporter had appeared to them outside of the Sanctuary a few days ago, and had demanded that someone keep watch over him so that the Diablerie do not get him aswell. Skulduggery was never willing to leave Valkyrie during a case, and Ghastly just 'bagsied' that it wasn't him. So the job fell to Tanith.

It was possibly the worst thing she'd been assigned to do. The man was just so -boring-. She missed Valkyrie's sarcastic comments, which she had grown used to hearing every night.

But a job is a job, and she did not intend to fail.

She came out of her little daydream to realise that the snoring in the other room had stopped, and had been replaced with muffled talking instead.

Was someone in there with him?

She picked up her sword from the counter and stealthily made her way to the door. She slid the door open by a few millimetres, just enough to peer through the crack and at who the man was talking to.

It seemed to be a tall, slim figure. She couldn't quite figure out whether or not it was female or male, though she took a guess at it being female. They seemed to be friendly, and a few seconds later, he was inviting this figure in.

Yes, it was definetly a female.

She had a long, hooded cloak on so she couldn't pin down any details about her, other than the fact that she seemed to know the Teleporter quite well.

Tanith narrowed her eyes and stepped away from the door to lean against the wall. Should she trust this lady? Probably not. But then, it -did- excuse her from having to look after him for a while if he was in the company of another.

She gave a light shrug, opened the door a little more so that she could keep an eye on them, and turned to raid the cupboards.

She was munching on a pack of slightly out of date oreos (gotta love 'em, out of date or not!) when a distressed yelp came from the other room. She dropped the oreos, grabbed her sword and barged through the door.

She was met with a pool of blood seeping across the laminet floor, coming from the Teleporter's head. Tanith let out a frustrated cry and turned the man over- he was dead. Springing to her feet, her eyes darted about for the lady, but she was gone. The door was wide open, so Tanith sprinted through it.

Her eyes caught a glimpse of the corner or the lady's cloak as she turned down the staircase, and Tanith hastily made chase.

This lady was fast.

They reached a long corridor, where the cloaked woman stopped dead in her tracks. Tanith slowed down, but didn't stop moving. Once she was a few steps from the woman, she raised her sword in preparation to bring it down on her, when the woman spun around, several daggers in between her fingers. She flicked her wrist, and all of the daggers flew at Tanith with amazing speed.

Tanith managed to dodge the majority of them, but the last few dug deep in to her side. Tanith grunted rather unlady-like, not allowing the wounds to effect her just now.

She threw herself forward, her sword raised once again, but the cloaked woman stepped out of the way. Tanith saw it coming, and as soon as she touched the ground, she propelled herself upwards, rearranged her center of gravity, and stuck her feet to the ceiling.

The cloaked woman's hood fell from her head as she looked about for Tanith, revealing startingly red hair. Tanith could now identify her as Murder Rose.

A slightly insane cackle escaped Rose's lips as she looked up at Tanith, who swung her sword at her. The sword managed to slice a bunch of her hair off, making the style look out of balance. Rose let out a shriek, and made for the next flight of stairs.

Tanith got back on to the ground and was about to make chase when the ground beneath her feet began to crack, and a hand appeared out of no where, grabbing at her feet. A head appeared shortly after the hand to reveal a man with dark sun glasses on.

"Hello, lovely."

Tanith used her other foot to kick the head in the face, which yowled loudly and let go of her. Seizing this opportunity, Tanith left the head and the hand to make chase once again after Murder Rose.

She made it too the other corridor, but was siddenly grabbed by hands behind her and thrown forward. Before she could stop herself, she crashed through a window, and began to fall the rest of the stories of the building.

Trying her best not to panick, she knew that she had to stop her fall- or atleast cushion it. It was at this time that she wished she was an Elemental, so that she could manipulate the air to slow her down.

She managed to turn her body so that she was facing the building, and latched one hand on to the first window sill that came to view.

As soon as her hand made contact with the sill, her body lurched to a halt, slamming against the rough wall and yanking her shoulder out of its socket.

She bit back a cry as she swung her other hand up to get a grip on the sill. She stayed there for a while to regain her breath, swinging every now and again to test her shoulder.

She heard the wheels of a car screech to a halt and she chanced a look down at the street below. The doors to a black Bentley swung open and Valkyrie and Skulduggery stepped out, glancing about. Skulduggery had a gun in his hands, and had it raised an prepared. Tanith called down to them and Valkyrie looked up, waving a little in greeting.

Deciding that now was the best time to get down, she stuck her feet against the wall, and stood up. She limped her way down the building until she came to the bottom, where Valkyrie helped her down carefully.

"What happened?" Valkyrie asked, easing Tanith towards the Bentley.

"Murder Rose.. She killed the Teleporter." Tanith said, her voice filled with self-disappointment.

"How did they do it? Forced entry?"

Tanith shook her head. "He let her in, and I assumed it was okay for the moment and then she just killed him. It was a foolish mistake."

Skulduggery put his gun away after a few minutes, and looked at Tanith. "Yes- a very foolish mistake. We discussed how the killer is obviously a friend to have gotten close to the Teleporters."

Tanith hung her head, her jaw set. Valkyrie put her in the back of the Bentley, and then got in the front with Skulduggery.

"Skulduggery, you didn't have to make her feel worse.." Valkyrie muttered loud enough for him to hear as Tanith drifted off to sleep in the back. Skulduggery offered a light shrug as he turned down a street.

"I can't have her making the same mistakes twice."

"She already knew what she had done wrong- it was unnecessary to make her feel even more guilty," She frowned at him slightly, elbowing his bony arm. He remained silent so she sighed. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"To Kenspeckle- she's hurt, isn't she?"

"Oh, right."

The rest of the journey was in silence, and when they arrived outside a run-down cinema, Valkyrie was still in a bad mood with Skulduggery.

She helped Tanith out of the back and steadied her as she limped towards the entrance with Skulduggery following close behind.

"Valkyrie! Tanith! Ah, and Detective.." Kenspeckle greeted them, swiftly walking over to examine Tanith. "Ahh.. Dislocated shoulder.. Minor scratches and bruises.. What happened?" He asked as he lead them in to the infirmary room. Valkyrie eased Tanith on to a bed, laying her down carefully.

"She was falling off a building," She said simply.

"I'm slightly relieved that it isn't you who is hurt this time, Miss Cain," Kenspeckle said as he put one hand on Tanith's shoulder, and gripped her upper arm with the other. "This will hurt momentarily," he warned her before pushing on her arm. There was a sickening 'pop' and a strangled cry from Tanith.

"There we go.." He went about gathering a few pots of paste, and then covered all the visible cuts and bruises with it. He left them a few minutes later, with instructions to watch over her for the night and to not let her do anything physically demanding for atleast a day.

Valkyrie slumped in to a soft chair next to Tanith, letting out a drawn-out sigh. Skulduggery stood next to her silently, his hands in the pockets of his well-tailored trousers.

"Sleep," he said to her. She looked up at him, shrugged and then curled in to a fetus position, eventually falling asleep.

Skulduggery watched her sleep for a while, and then brought a chair over to sit the night out.

**ooOoo**

**There. I did it.**

**By the way, the latest guest review.. My oh my!**

**We are too innocent to create such a chapter! (Lolwhoamikidding?)**

**I'm not going to reveal anything about the next chapters.. Because I'll be slaughtered :D**

**To all who read my TCR2 fic- the next chapter will have to wait a few days, I've got a lot of preparing to do, and I usually type out the fics on my phone, which is spazzing out. So that also delays it. But it WILL be up, as will the chapter after that. Sorry for the wait, love you all!**

**Anyway..**

**Until next time..!**


	21. Postponing

**Hey guys.**

**I'm sad to say that due to recent events and lack of communicative methods, me and Shan have to postpone this fanfiction. **

**I could upload the next chapter the now, but I need word from my dear friend, but she is unreachable at the moment.**

**Until we can fully get things on the road again, with a secure way of actually talking, there will be no more uploads for this fic.**

**But have no fear! I'm certain that it will not be for long, seeing as I am a very persistent person, and enjoy this fic quite a lot, and so does Shan.**

**Awfully sorry to disappoint you all, you're all so wonderful and supportive.**

**Forever yours,**

**RandomFanfictionGurlz.**


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